Jerusalem. Accused child abuser Malka Leifer, who is wanted in Australia on dozens of counts of sexual abuse, has been found fit to face an extradition hearing, according to two psychiatric reports.
The expert psychiatric assessments conducted by Jerusalem psychiatrists Dr Barash and Dr Weisbrodt have yet to be seen in court, but have been signed off by the city’s chief psychiatrist, a Jerusalem court heard on Tuesday.
Judge Hannah Miriam Lomp set a court date in three months’ time to hear psychiatrists’ evaluations to rule whether the former Melbourne school principal is mentally capable of standing trial for extradition to Australia.
The 54-year-old, who was not present in court, is behind bars after videos from an undercover police operation emerged showed her living a normal, healthy life – despite being declared unfit for extradition due to mental illness during previous Israeli court attempts to extradite her in 2014 and 2016.
February’s re-arrest is the subject of a separate court case.
Read the article by Gabrielle Weiniger in The Sydney Morning Herald.