Published: 1 November 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ALLEGED SERIAL CHILD RAPIST Malka Leifer will be required to appear before a psychiatric panel that will determine whether she has been feigning mental illness to avoid extradition to Australia, the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Thursday.
Judge Chana Lomp’s decision comes two days after Leifer’s attorneys informed the court that their client would not cooperate with the panel, which, they claimed, will be biased against her. The decision will require prison guards to compel Leifer to go to the panel hearing in order to undergo an evaluation.
The State Prosecutor’s Office also files a request to have all information from the trial passed along to the panel to give its members a full picture of Leifer’s mental state. Without it, Leifer would likely have to be hospitalised for three weeks in order to be re-evaluated from scratch. That would likely delay the panel’s decision, which the court ordered it make by December 10, a source with knowledge of the proceedings told The Times of Israel.
Lomp has now given the opportunity for Leifer’s attorneys, Tal Gabay and Yehuda Fried, to respond to the state’s request before passing the file on to the panel. A decision on the matter could come as soon as later Thursday, the source said.
FULL STORY Court to compel alleged pedophile Leifer to undergo psychiatric evaluation (Times of Israel)
Malka Leifer refuses to cooperate with new psych panel (Jerusalem Post)
Lawyers for alleged paedophile Malka Leifer informed the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday that she would refuse to cooperate with a new psychiatric panel which is scheduled to convene and evaluate her mental fitness for extradition.
Netanyahu says Israel will extradite Leifer as soon as court okays it (Times of Israel)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured a delegation of former Australian lawmakers in a meeting Monday that Israel would immediately sign off on the extradition of sex abuse suspect Malka Leifer if so ordered by a Jerusalem court, sources present at the sit-down from both countries confirmed to The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu met Monday with a delegation of past and present Australian officials and community leaders headed by former Australian prime minister John Howard.
