Rabbi Eliezer Berland appeared in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 15 April after fleeing from the police twice. The case was postponed to 20 April.
“Berland was arrested by the Hawks Interpol Sunninghill on 8 April for four charges of indecent assault he committed in Israel,” said the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Carol Mulamu. After he was arrested he complained about not feeling well. He was then taken to a Joburg hospital where he was kept under heavy police guard.
The 80-year-old fugitive rabbi managed to flee the police twice when he was tracked down to a hotel in Midrand and during a high speed chase by the police.
He was on the run for four years before he was caught skipping countries. Capt Mulamu said that he was spotted in other countries including Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands. The police are still unsure as to how he managed to get from country to country undetected. He was also arrested in Amsterdam last year. He managed to escape and re-enter South Africa a few weeks before he was arrested.
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