Supreme Court rejects Malka Leifer’s appeal, says she’s fit for extradition

2 September 2020, 1:21 pm

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The Supreme Court rejects Malka Leifer’s appeal against a lower court’s ruling that the alleged serial pedophile is mentally fit to be extradited to Australia.

This means Leifer’s extradition itself can now be discussed, after dozens of court hearings over six years dealt with the question of her mental fitness, eventually causing a diplomatic rift with Canberra.

The judges unanimously reject Leifer’s appeal, saying none of the arguments presented by her lawyers point to her being mentally unfit to stand trial and be extradited.

Leifer is wanted in Australia on more than 70 counts of molesting girls she taught at an Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne. She fled the country to Israel in 2008.