Fugitive school principal Malka Leifer may finally be extradited to Australia from Israel after she is found fit to stand trial on dozens of child sex abuse charges
- Malka Lefier was deemed fit to stand trial by an Israeli psychiatric panel Friday
- The former Melbourne school principal faces 74 child sexual assault charges
- The 52-year-old fled to Israel in 2008 after the allegations first emerged
- Extradition process was stalled several times since charges were laid in 2013
A former Melbourne school principal accused of sexually abusing students may finally be extradited to Australia after she was deemed mentally fit to stand trial.
Malka Leifer was revealed to have been feigning mental illness after a panel of psychiatric experts submitted their findings to an Israeli court on Friday.
The 52-year-old is facing 74 charges of rape and child sexual assault of three female students during her time at the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel school in Elsternwick.
In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born woman left the school and returned to her birth country.
Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer (pictured at Jerusalem court in 2008) could finally be extradited after she was deemed mentally fit to stand trial on Friday
One of three sisters who have accused Leifer of abuse welcomed the panel’s decision in an online post.
‘We cannot believe this day has come!!! Incredible news!! We knew this all along! Such a long wait, justice has come!!’ Dassi Erlich said on Twitter late on Thursday AEST.
Legal proceedings have been running since 2011 as defence lawyers repeatedly argued she was too unwell to attend court, leading to numerous psychiatric assessments.
Former students Nicole Meyer and Dassi Erlich had accused Leifer of abuse in 2008
Leifer was ruled unfit to stand trial in 2016 but an undercover investigation in Israel by the organisation Jewish Community Watch found she was apparently going about her daily life unhindered.
She was arrested again in 2018 on charges of fraud and feigning mental illness.
The 52-year-old is facing 74 charges of rape and child sexual assault of three female students during her time at the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel school in Elsternwick
The court requested another psychological review and she has since been held in Israeli custody.
Leifer’s lawyers Tal Gabbay and Yehuda Fried said they were confident the Jerusalem court would reject the panel’s findings.
‘It is important to emphasise and remind that two previous opinions ruling that Leifer is feigning (mental illness) and is fit to stand trial were wholly rejected by the court after a discussion of the evidence,’ they told reporters.
‘We expect that will be the case for this opinion as well.’
The psychiatric report is to be presented to the Jerusalem District Court on January 14, after which the judge is to decide whether the extradition hearings can proceed.
Manny Waks, the chief executive of Kol v’Oz, an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse, said his organization will do ‘all that we can to ensure Leifer is put on a plane back to Australia as soon as possible.’
Ms Erlich took to Twitter following the court ruling to celebrate the decision