Lia (Lirai) Kopel in the detention cell in Italy, March 19, 2023 (Lia (Lirai) Kopel)
Leah (Lirai) Kopel Nichols, 60, who was arrested in Greece last December for allegedly kidnapping her children from her abusive husband and reached a plea agreement with the authorities in the United States, was arrested yesterday (Saturday) together with her daughter again, this time in Italy.
The Israeli-American mother took off last night from Tel Aviv for a vacation with her daughter. They landed at Treviso Airport, which is located north of Venice, and were stopped at border control following an Interpol "red notice". The daughter was released early in the morning, but Leah remained in the detention cell in the field.
The detention cell in Italy (photo: courtesy of those photographed, Lia (Lirai) Kopel)
Attorney Zvika Greiber, the chairman of the KeepOlim association that accompanied her in the past, has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is waiting for the minister's intervention.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the matter is recognized and handled by the Department for Israelis Abroad and the Israeli Consul in Rome.
Leah told Walla! from the arrest that this is the third time she has been arrested, in three different countries within five months. "All because I did the right thing to protect my children." , she claimed. "Even after the ruling of the Supreme Court in Israel and even though all my children are over 18 and the US court canceled the order and closed the case against me, the abuse continues because of the negligence and irresponsible conduct of the law enforcement agencies in California. All the unnecessary episodes in Israel, Greece and now Italy are Part of my and our journey to freedom, which I very much hope will reach its destination soon."
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Lia with her children after the case was closed in the USA (photo: Walla! system, use according to Section 27A of the Copyright Law)
Koppel-Nicholas was arrested in Greece following an Interpol warrant issued against her against an arrest request from the United States, where she was wanted for kidnapping her children to Israel.
The Supreme Court of Israel ruled back in 2015 that she is entitled to asylum in the country, and will not be extradited to the United States.
In the meantime, the father passed away, and about three weeks ago, for the first time since she fled to Israel, she dared to leave the country for a vacation in Crete, not before trying to check, without success, if there was still an arrest warrant against her.
On the advice of her lawyers, the Israeli Nir Yaslovich and the American Jim Tierney flew Lia-Lirai to the United States where she turned herself in to the authorities upon landing at the airport in Los Angeles.
She was arrested and transferred to a detention facility, where she was held and later brought to a California court in the city of Victorville in San Brandino County, where she was wanted for seven years.
The three crimes of kidnapping, for each of her three children, and for which she was wanted, were converted to misdemeanors of keeping the children away from their father, in accordance with the agreement she did not atone for them, and the judge ordered the district attorney's office to take her to jail, register her and immediately release her.
Lia claimed over the years that she fled with her children from the United States to Israel, after her husband hurt her and threatened to kill her.
She married an American lawyer in 1998, the two lived in California and had three children.
According to her, at a certain point, the husband became violent, verbally and physically, beating her and the children repeatedly and in one of his fits of rage he even killed the family dog.
They divorced, joint custody of the children was established, with the authorities in the United States providing her with protection and enrolling the children in the "Children's Education Unit" program designed to protect children suffering from domestic violence.
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Kopel in Israel, December 2022 (Photo: Yoav Itiel)
However, the threats and pressure continued, and in 2014 she fled to Israel with her children, when they were 10-13 years old.
The father filed a request under the Hague Convention for Israel to return the mother and children to the United States, claiming that the mother escaped from joint custody and kidnapped the children.
The request of the American authorities was brought to the Supreme Court of Israel, and as mentioned, a panel of three judges led by Judge Zvi Handel unanimously ruled on May 20, 2015 that she is entitled to asylum in Israel.
But the United States did not recognize this arrangement and insisted on prosecuting it before a court in California.
Lawyer Nir Yaslovich, who worked for her release in Greece and the plea deal in the United States with the help of the local lawyers, told Walla that "after a long effort, I welcome the plea agreement that was forged between me and the Attorney General in the United States according to which Leah will only receive a monetary fine and not a prison sentence, taking into account the circumstances The particularities according to which Lia and her children went through a continuous journey of abuse by the children's father. Now Lia and her children will be able to live without any limiting condition of one kind or another and without any fear and that is to be congratulated."
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