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The Netherlands is turning over Rabbi Eliezer Berland to Israel to face four charges of alleged indecent assault of women and girls, the Dutch publication Nu.nl reports (http://bit.ly/1GMgQVW).
The Dutch Supreme Court ruled today that Berland, 78, can be extradited to Israel, overturning an earlier local court ruling in February denying Israel’s extradition request. The Supreme Court decision comes after months of delays in the extradition process, including a hospital stay for Berland in January, who was said to be suffering from heart-related issues at the time.
Berland fled to the Netherlands from Israel three years ago after several women and a 15-year-old girl accused the rabbi of sexual assault. Thus far, Berland had successfully dodged law enforcement authorities in the United States, South Africa, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and Morocco on these charges. He was arrested by Dutch police at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in September after evading South African authorities, but had been free on bail pending the outcome of the extradition ruling.
The rabbi has said that Israel has no jurisdiction to extradite him since the alleged incidents occurred over the 1949 Armistice lines and he was not an Israeli citizen. A date has not yet been set by the Dutch Justice Ministry for Berland’s extradition.
This story keeps on getting stranger. In the last hearing Israel confirmed there was no arrest warrant for rabbi Berland. How can there be extradition without an international arrest warrant?
No idea about the merits of the case but he should not go to court in tallis and tefillin unless he was in the middle of shacharis and was suddenly summoned.
Neat argument of Berland’s that Israel has no jurisdiction to extradite him since the alleged incidents occurred over the 1949 Armistice lines and he was not an Israeli citizen. How did the Dutch Supreme Court deal with that one?
We can’t know what really happened between the people .The Rabbi is a big tzadik who is following the ideals of Reb Nachman , let us not judge him .