Israel to extradite woman to Australia in child sex case

An Israeli court on Monday approved the extradition of a former teacher wanted in Australia on charges of child sex abuse, paving the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal battle.

Malka Leifer, a former educator who is accused of sexually abusing several former students, has been fighting extradition from Israel since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the battle surrounding her extradition has strained relations between Israel and Australia.

Earlier this month, Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Leifer's attorney over a Jerusalem court's ruling that she was mentally fit to stand trial, saying it was "putting an end to the saga that has been drawn out for many years."

On Monday, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that Leifer would be deported to Australia to stand trial for 74 charges of child sex abuse, lawyers said.

Critics, including Leifer's alleged victims, have accused Israeli authorities of dragging out the case for far too long.

Earlier this year an Israeli psychiatric panel determined Leifer had lied about suffering a mental condition that made her unfit to stand trial. As a result of the findings, Israel's Justice Ministry said it would move to expedite her extradition.

Three sisters — Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper — have accused Leifer of abusing them while they were students at a Melbourne ultra-Orthodox school. There are said to be other victims.

The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sexual abuse, but the sisters have spoken publicly about their allegations against Leifer.

As accusations surfaced in 2008, Israeli-born Leifer left the school and returned to Israel, where she has lived since.

Manny Waks, head of Kol v'Oz, a Jewish group that combats child sex abuse and that has been representing the three sisters.



X
Sitelerimizde reklam ve pazarlama faaliyetlerinin yürütülmesi amaçları ile çerezler kullanılmaktadır.

Bu çerezler, kullanıcıların tarayıcı ve cihazlarını tanımlayarak çalışır.

İnternet sitemizin düzgün çalışması, kişiselleştirilmiş reklam deneyimi, internet sitemizi optimize edebilmemiz, ziyaret tercihlerinizi hatırlayabilmemiz için veri politikasındaki amaçlarla sınırlı ve mevzuata uygun şekilde çerez konumlandırmaktayız.

Bu çerezlere izin vermeniz halinde sizlere özel kişiselleştirilmiş reklamlar sunabilir, sayfalarımızda sizlere daha iyi reklam deneyimi yaşatabiliriz. Bunu yaparken amacımızın size daha iyi reklam bir deneyimi sunmak olduğunu ve sizlere en iyi içerikleri sunabilmek adına elimizden gelen çabayı gösterdiğimizi ve bu noktada, reklamların maliyetlerimizi karşılamak noktasında tek gelir kalemimiz olduğunu sizlere hatırlatmak isteriz.