ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
By Gabrielle Weiniger
2 May 2018
Former Melbourne principal and alleged child sexual abuser Malka Leifer will remain behind bars in Israel after an extradition hearing at a Jerusalem court postponed her next trial date for a further two weeks.
Victorian police want Leifer to return to Australia to face 74 charges of child sex abuse. She is being held in Israel’s sole women’s prison, Neve Tzira, in the central Israeli city of Ramle.
Leifer fled Australia for Israel in 2008 after allegations were first raised over her time as head of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel girls school in Melbourne. The school was ordered to pay over $1.1m in damages to her alleged victims in 2015.
In 2016, Leifer was declared unfit to stand trial by a Jerusalem district judge because of her mental health, but in February this year she was arrested and accused by local authorities of obstructing justice by feigning illness to avoid trial.
In the latest hearing, Judge Hannah Lomp ordered the prosecution to present the defence with all the evidence collected against Leifer, evidence the prosecution claims shows she is mentally fit to be extradited. The next extradition hearing will be held on May 16th.
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