Malka Leifer
Top Israeli court nixes house arrest for alleged Australian pedophile
Supreme Court rules the former high school principal - wanted by Australian police on 74 sexual assault charges, including rape - poses a flight risk after Jerusalem District Court ordered for the alleged sex-offender to be freed under house arrest
The Supreme Court overturned on Thursday a lower court order that a former Australian school principal suspected of sexual assault, and who Australia is seeking to extradite, be released from prison to house arrest.
A former high school principal has been granted release to house arrest last Wednesday and was to be released to her sister's home in the city of Bnei Brak, the center of Haredi Judaism.
Malka Leifer
Malka Leifer poses a flight risk and should remain behind bars until extradition proceedings conclude, Justice Anat Baron ruled, finding in favour of prosecutors' appeal against the Jerusalem District Court's October 2 order.
Leifer fled from Australia in 2008 with what Australian authorities believe was the assistance of the insular Adass Jewish community, after accusations against her surfaced.
A former principal of Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls' school in Melbourne, Leifer is wanted by Australian police on 74 sexual assault charges, including rape, involving girls at the institution.
Malka Leifer brought before court (Photo: AP)
The district court ruled in 2016 that Leifer, who has denied the charges, was mentally unfit to face extradition and trial.
She was re-arrested in 2018 after a police investigation raised questions about the state of her health.
Last month, the district court, in considering extradition, said more psychiatric evidence was needed before it could decide the issue, and ordered a new panel of experts to assess Leifer's mental condition and deliver a report in December.
Yaakov Litzman (Photo: Avi Moalem)
In August, Israeli police recommended indicting Israel's deputy health minister on suspicion he tried to pressure court-appointed psychiatrists to support Leifer's mental illness claims.
It will be up to state prosecutors to decide whether to accept the police findings and charge the politician, Yaakov Litzman, who has denied any wrongdoing.
