Malka Leifer faces court
On her first day in Australia following her extradition, Malka Leifer faced court via a video link.
Malka Leifer, a former school principal, who is wanted on 74 charges of sexual abuse in Melbourne, Australia, is led out of the Jerusalem District Court. Jerusalem, Jun 14, 2018. Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS
Media reports that her lawyer said the 54-yr-old former principal of the Adass Yisroel school had mental health problems and sought her transfer to another prison.
Leifer is facing 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
Her next court appearance will not be until April with an ABC-TV journalist commenting that the trial may not happen until next year.
Malka Leifer will quarantine in police custody. No bail application was made.
In a further development, The Age has reported “Ms Leifer will be offered support from the charity Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria, a group contracted by Corrections Victoria to assist every Jewish person in the state’s system and support prisoners “to observe and grow while in prison”.
The paper further reported that Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria is headed by Benjamin Koppel, current president of Addas Yisroel, former employer of Leifer.
