Former Melbourne principal wanted over abuse allegations to remain free in Israel
The Guardian
Melissa Davey
7 June 2016
Malka Leifer, a former principal at the ultra orthodox Adass Israel girls school in Melbourne, left Australia in 2008 after allegations of indecent assault and rape were first raised (photo: Dave Hunt/AAP).
Prosecutors fail to have Malka Leifer, former principal at ultra orthodox Adass Israel girls school, returned to house arrest
A former Melbourne school principal wanted over 74 charges relating to allegations of indecent assault and rape against her students will remain free in Israel after prosecutors failed to have her returned to house arrest.
An application by Israel’s state prosecutor was made after the Jerusalem district court last week declared Malka Leifer unfit to face an extradition trial after receiving a report from her psychiatrist.
The district court judge, Amnon Cohen, also lifted her house arrest and said she would not be fit to face trial until she had completed monthly psychiatry sessions, a process that could continue for up to 10 years.
The prosecutor appealed against the decision to free Leifer on Monday but another judge refused to reinstate the house arrest.
Leifer, a former principal at the ultra orthodox Adass Israel girls school in Melbourne, left Australia in 2008 after the allegations were first raised. Her alleged victims have been fighting for her return to Victoria ever since.
The decision to allow her to remain free was a “devastating blow,” said Manny Waks, a survivor of years of sexual abuse inside Australia’s orthodox Yeshivah centres. He has been supporting Leifer’s alleged victims throughout the hearings. There have been nine previous attempts to extradite her, with Leifer deemed too unwell to face the court each time.
“It truly is devastating, not just for her alleged victims but for the community in Australia and even more so for the community in Israel,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Because you have an alleged paedophile roaming the streets who is a qualified teacher, who has the option of continuing to teach. I’m genuinely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the children in Israel now.”
Waks believes Leifer should be kept under house arrest until she is well enough to be able to face an extradition hearing, or institutionalised and provided with intensive psychiatric care until she has recuperated enough to face the court.
“They are the only options that would make sense under these circumstances,” he said.
One of Leifer’s alleged victims, who wanted to remain anonymous, wrote that the last few days “have been horrible, emotionally hard to even describe”.
“The silence [of the Adass leadership/community] is deafening,” the alleged victim wrote. “I haven’t had one message of support from anyone in the Adass community at all.”
A request from the prosecutor to lift Leifer’s bail from 100,000 Israeli shekels [$35,000] to 200,000 Israeli shekels [$AU70,000] was also refused on Monday.
Originally published at The Guardian.
A former Melbourne school principal wanted over 74 charges relating to allegations of indecent assault and rape against her students will remain free in Israel after prosecutors failed to have her returned to house arrest.
An application by Israel’s state prosecutor was made after the Jerusalem district court last week declared Malka Leifer unfit to face an extradition trial after receiving a report from her psychiatrist.
The district court judge, Amnon Cohen, also lifted her house arrest and said she would not be fit to face trial until she had completed monthly psychiatry sessions, a process that could continue for up to 10 years.
The prosecutor appealed against the decision to free Leifer on Monday but another judge refused to reinstate the house arrest.
Leifer, a former principal at the ultra orthodox Adass Israel girls school in Melbourne, left Australia in 2008 after the allegations were first raised. Her alleged victims have been fighting for her return to Victoria ever since.
The decision to allow her to remain free was a “devastating blow,” said Manny Waks, a survivor of years of sexual abuse inside Australia’s orthodox Yeshivah centres. He has been supporting Leifer’s alleged victims throughout the hearings. There have been nine previous attempts to extradite her, with Leifer deemed too unwell to face the court each time.
“It truly is devastating, not just for her alleged victims but for the community in Australia and even more so for the community in Israel,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Because you have an alleged paedophile roaming the streets who is a qualified teacher, who has the option of continuing to teach. I’m genuinely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the children in Israel now.”
Waks believes Leifer should be kept under house arrest until she is well enough to be able to face an extradition hearing, or institutionalised and provided with intensive psychiatric care until she has recuperated enough to face the court.
“They are the only options that would make sense under these circumstances,” he said.
One of Leifer’s alleged victims, who wanted to remain anonymous, wrote that the last few days “have been horrible, emotionally hard to even describe”.
“The silence [of the Adass leadership/community] is deafening,” the alleged victim wrote. “I haven’t had one message of support from anyone in the Adass community at all.”
A request from the prosecutor to lift Leifer’s bail from 100,000 Israeli shekels [$35,000] to 200,000 Israeli shekels [$AU70,000] was also refused on Monday.
Originally published at The Guardian.