The Supreme Court has already rejected several appeals by Leifer’s defense team on different aspects of her case.
By JEREMY SHARONMALKA LEIFER, surrounded by Israel Prison Service guards, covers her face in Jerusalem District Court on February 14, 2018. (photo credit: AVSHALOM SHOSHANI)
A hearing on Malka Leifer’s appeal against the Jerusalem District Court’s decision to extradite her to Australia, where she is wanted on 74 charges of rape and sexual abuse, is set to take place Thursday morning.After close to six years of legal proceedings which have been dragged out by Leifer’s claims to be mentally unfit for trial and extradition, Judge Chana Miriam Lomp of the Jerusalem District Court ruled on September 21 that she should be extradited to Australia to stand trial on the charges against her.The Supreme Court has already rejected several appeals by Leifer’s defense team on different aspects of her case, including the critical ruling by the court in September upholding the Jerusalem District Court’s determination that Leifer is mentally fit for trial and extradition.If the Supreme Court rejects Leifer’s appeal against the extradition, the justice minister will be required to approve her extradition. Should Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn do so, Leifer can appeal his decision to the Supreme Court.Should the Supreme Court reject that appeal, Leifer would then be extradited.At the extradition hearing in July in the Jerusalem District Court, Leifer’s defense team claimed that the sex acts she is accused of committing with her pupils were consensual, and that even though her alleged victims were under the age of consent, prosecutors in Israel would not issue charges on such allegations, and that therefore extradition should not be considered.Leifer’s attorneys also argued that Israel’s extradition treaty with Australia does specifically detail the acts Leifer allegedly committed and that therefore she cannot be extradited for them.Lomp rejected these claims, however, and ruled that the extradition treaty with Australia does apply to Leifer, and that the Australian authorities had every right to prosecute her, since she was an Australian resident at the time of her alleged crimes.“In the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling relating to Leifer’s mental fitness, the same three-panel of judges who will preside at this week’s appeal said that proceedings had dragged out ‘much beyond what is reasonable,’” noted Manny Waks, CEO of the VoiCSA organization which works to combat child sex abuse.“We therefore expect a prompt and unequivocal decision by the Supreme Court that Malka Leifer must be extradited to Australia as soon as possible.“As I’ve repeatedly stated, it’s been clear to practically everyone following this case – including countless experts – that Leifer has taken the Israeli judicial system for a major ride. It’s time for this charade to finally end.”Waks added that a review should be conducted in Israel to investigate how Leifer’s case was dragged out for so long, and to look into the allegations of political interference which may have been one of the causes for the lengthy delays in extraditing Leifer.In August last year, the police recommended then-health minister Ya’acov Litzman be indicted on charges of witness tampering, fraud and breach of trust in connection with his alleged effort to pressure psychiatric experts into providing evaluations of Leifer stating that she was unfit for trial.Litzman has denied the allegations. The attorney-general has yet to make a decision on whether to indict him.
