JERUSALEM (AP) – On Monday, Israeli authorities extradited a woman wanted for 74 allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia, following a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments.
Malka Leifer, a former teacher accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne, had been fighting Israel’s extradition since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the prolonged and repeated court case Delays in his extradition provoked criticism from Australian officials. as well as the country’s Jewish leaders.
Israeli media photographed Leifer boarding a plane at Ben Gurion Airport in the early hours of Monday, with her ankles and wrists tied. His lawyer, Nick Kaufman, confirmed the extradition.
The Hebrew news site Ynet reported that he boarded a flight to Frankfurt, where he would move to another flight bound for Australia.
His departure was scheduled so he left the country before Israel closed the airport at midnight due to the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
In December, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against her extradition and Israel’s justice minister signed the order to send her to Australia.
Leifer faces 74 charges of child sexual abuse he allegedly committed while teaching in Melbourne.
When the charges against her began to appear in 2008, Leifer, of Israeli descent, left school and returned to Israel, where she has lived ever since.
Critics, including Leifer’s alleged victims, had accused Israeli authorities of dragging the case for too long, while Leifer claimed she was not mentally fit to be prosecuted.
Last year, an Israeli psychiatric group determined that Leifer was lying about her mental condition, initiating extradition.
Avi Nissenkorn, the former Israeli justice minister who had signed the extradition order, wrote on Twitter: “I promised I would not hinder the extradition order, and that is what I have done. Malka Leifer will finally win an act of justice. ”
Manny Waks, head of Voice against Abuse Sex Child, an organization that represents Leifer’s victims, said in a statement that “this is an amazing day for justice!”
“We can now truly expect Leifer to face justice in Australia for the 74 charges they face,” he said.