Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing two students in her care. Anti-abuse advocate Manny Waks says it took too long for justice to be served.
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00:00 to see the process that commenced initially in 2008, when the allegations first surfaced
00:10 and then when the three sisters started going to the police and lodging formal statements
00:16 in 2011.
00:17 And then going through that entire process in Israel, seeking the extradition, Markalei
00:23 for feigning her illness, there were about 75 court hearings in Israel, in which I attended
00:30 the vast majority of those on behalf of the three sisters.
00:35 It's incredible that we actually reached the milestone to getting not only a conviction
00:41 for Markalei for the 15 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 and a half
00:46 years.
00:47 I think by all accounts, this is something that's considered a very strong punitive measure.
00:56 And I think that justice has been served.
00:59 And ultimately, we just need to listen and see what the courageous sisters have said.
01:04 And they feel satisfied that justice has been served and they are hopefully ready to move
01:09 forward.
01:10 The fact is, Victoria Police has made it very clear that they are still investigating the
01:16 matter around the Adas leadership and who sent Markalei for overseas to help her avoid
01:23 justice.
01:24 So hopefully, we will see full accountability in that regard.
01:28 At the same time, we also saw some of Israel's most senior people, especially within the
01:35 ultra-Orthodox community, whether it was former Health Minister, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, whether
01:41 it was some of the other high-level officials who stood by Markalei, tried to do everything
01:47 they could to prevent her from being extradited to Australia to face justice, not just for
01:53 the crimes that she did, but to also potentially stop her from abusing others.
01:59 Hopefully there will be a proper investigation.
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