Leifer stays in prison
The bail plea for the accused sexual abuser Malka Leifer has been denied in Jerusalem and the former principal Adass Israel school in Melbourne will remain in prison…a video report.
Manny Waks outside the Jerusalem court. Photo: TPS
Child sexual abuse advocate Manny Waks told TPS. One of Leifer’s victims Nicole Meyer spoke to Waks by video on behalf of herself and her two sisters.
Malka Leifer
He told a media briefing: “We’re pleased that Leifer will remain in prison for now, and hope that the wheels of justice will continue to turn in the favour of the alleged victims. If Leifer continues to play the system and is somehow found medically unfit to face justice, she must be institutionalised until she recovers well enough to face justice.”
Leifer is wanted by the Victorian police in Melbourne where she faces 74 charges on child sexual abuse committed between 2003 and 2008. Leifer fled to Israel. She was arrested in 2014 and her lawyers have consistently claimed she is unfit mentally to face a court dealing with the request for her extradition.
Israel’s Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is being questioned by police on the ground he exerted pressure for Leifer getting psychiatric reports claiming she is unfit to face court.
Malka Leifer did not appear in court.
The next hearing concerning her extradition will be on March 6.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the decision by the Jerusalem District Court to reject Malka Leifer’s application to be released into home detention. The Court ruled that Leifer will remain in gaol in Israel on remand until the extradition proceedings are concluded. Leifer is an accused sex offenderCommenting on the case, ECAJ president Anton Block said: “It is heartening that the court completely rejected the claims made by Leifer’s lawyers that her life would be in danger and that she would suffer irreparable damage by staying in jail for the duration of legal proceedings.”
“We are also deeply troubled by grave allegations that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman met with Jerusalem’s district psychiatrist (Dr Jacob Charnes) to pressure him into issuing a false assessment for Leifer in support of her claim that she should not be extradited to Australia because she is unfit to stand trial due to her mental state”, Mr Block said.
“We understand Israel’s anti-corruption unit is now conducting an investigation into the conduct of the Deputy Health Minister. He should stand down from his position while the investigation is underway. If it is found that there is any truth to the allegations, the Deputy Minister should be prosecuted for interfering in the administration of justice.”Mr Block also stated that in light of the allegations about the conduct of the Deputy Health Minister, “it is understandable that the court also ruled that another psychiatric assessment must be undertaken to test Leifer’s claim that she is mentally unfit”.
“Representatives of the ECAJ met on Monday with the Australian Ambassador to Israel and again conveyed our view that the extradition of Leifer to face justice without delay is a matter of the highest concern for the Australian Jewish community. We are grateful to the Ambassador and to the Australian Government for the assistance being offered to child sexual abuse survivors.
We wish them continued strength and determination and commend them for their valiant pursuit of justice. Their dignity in the face of delays in the extradition trial and allegations of impropriety by various officials is a great credit to our community.”
What a farce.
It’s no different from the Vatican sending it’s clergy to some monastery somewhere in my opinion.
I recall here in Australia a Judicial Vicar travelled to Rome to see his brother exonerated for crimes he committed never charged by the law of the land until 30 years later…..
Thanks to the recent Royal Commission.
*In the Roman Catholic Church, a judicial vicar or episcopal official (Latin: officialis) is an officer of the diocese who has ordinary power to judge cases in the diocesan ecclesiastical court. … A judicial vicar may also be assisted by adjutant judicial vicars (or vice-officiales).
Many in the 21st century are secular or have no religion.