Accused child sex abuser Malka Leifer granted bail in Israel
The Sydney Morning Herald
Christine McGinn & Sumeyya Ilanbey/AAP
2 October 2019
Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer, accused of sexually abusing female students at a Jewish school, will be released from custody in Israel as her court matters continue.
Leifer appeared before the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday and Judge Rom Vinograd will release her to house arrest in B'nei B'rak, abuse survivor advocate Manny Waks said.
That hearing was number 58 as the case to try and bring the former principal of the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel school in Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east back to Australia to face 74 charges of rape and child sex abuse met countless delays.
There has been lengthy legal argument over Leifer's fitness to be extradited to Australia to face criminal charges.
Mr Waks was in court for Wednesday's proceedings and live blogged the unfolding events on Facebook.
He claimed Leifer's sister's house, where she will be under house arrest, was only 500 metres from two schools and six synagogues.
"If Leifer is genuinely unwell, she should be held in a medical facility or jail where she can be appropriately cared for until her extradition to Australia is approved," Mr Waks said in a statement.
"This decision is an absolute travesty and continues to bring shame on the state of Israel."
Melbourne sisters Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer, have been campaigning to have Leifer extradited to Australia.
Ms Meyer said the release of Leifer on bail posed a “glaring contradiction” to what her defence team had been arguing for so long.
“Until now, she’s been so unwell she wasn’t able to do anything … and now she’s going to be walking out of prison into a house,” Ms Meyer said. “If she can walk into a house, she can walk onto a plane.”
The sisters said they were finding it difficult to process the decision by the court to bail the accused child molester.
Ms Erlich said it was a “massive betrayal” of justice.
“We got to this place where the process continues to drag on and now that she’s allowed to go on bail, it just doesn’t make sense,” Ms Erlich said.
“I just can’t believe it.
Leifer appeared before the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday and Judge Rom Vinograd will release her to house arrest in B'nei B'rak, abuse survivor advocate Manny Waks said.
That hearing was number 58 as the case to try and bring the former principal of the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel school in Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east back to Australia to face 74 charges of rape and child sex abuse met countless delays.
There has been lengthy legal argument over Leifer's fitness to be extradited to Australia to face criminal charges.
Mr Waks was in court for Wednesday's proceedings and live blogged the unfolding events on Facebook.
He claimed Leifer's sister's house, where she will be under house arrest, was only 500 metres from two schools and six synagogues.
"If Leifer is genuinely unwell, she should be held in a medical facility or jail where she can be appropriately cared for until her extradition to Australia is approved," Mr Waks said in a statement.
"This decision is an absolute travesty and continues to bring shame on the state of Israel."
Melbourne sisters Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer, have been campaigning to have Leifer extradited to Australia.
Ms Meyer said the release of Leifer on bail posed a “glaring contradiction” to what her defence team had been arguing for so long.
“Until now, she’s been so unwell she wasn’t able to do anything … and now she’s going to be walking out of prison into a house,” Ms Meyer said. “If she can walk into a house, she can walk onto a plane.”
The sisters said they were finding it difficult to process the decision by the court to bail the accused child molester.
Ms Erlich said it was a “massive betrayal” of justice.
“We got to this place where the process continues to drag on and now that she’s allowed to go on bail, it just doesn’t make sense,” Ms Erlich said.
“I just can’t believe it.
Leifer's bail conditions include staying with an appointed family member, reporting to police, and attending a medical facility for treatment.
Prosecutors have until Friday to appeal the bail decision.
Last month, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that a new psychiatric report is needed to assess if Leifer is fit to face an extradition trial over child sex abuse allegations.
In five years of court hearings, 30 psychiatrists have already been involved in determining if Leifer is fit to face extradition trial.
Allegations of child sex abuse were first raised against Leifer in 2008.
In 2016, an Israeli judge found Leifer mentally unfit to face extradition to Australia and she was set free.
The case was reignited after Leifer was rearrested in February last year following an undercover police investigation during which she was filmed appearing to go about daily activities and leading a “normal life" in the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Emmanuel.
It has been reported that she is alleged to have abused other children while living in that community.
The continual delays in court and the findings that Israel's Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman acted to have medical assessments altered in Leifer's favour has raised question marks around Israel's judiciary.
In August, Israeli police recommended Litzman be indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust, though Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit is continuing to allow the deputy minister to keep his job.
Originally published at The Sydney Morning Herald.