Lawyer for charged Sydney nurse slams Aussies for subjecting her client to a ‘trial by social media’
The lawyer for a Sydney nurse charged with threatening to kill her Jewish patients has slammed the ‘viral outrage’ being directed at her client.
Lawyer Rayan Kadadi is representing Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who on Tuesday night was charged over anti-Semitic comments made in an online video that shocked Australia.
In the video captured by Israeli influencer Max Veifer and posted to social media on February 12, Abu Lebdeh and fellow nurse Ahmad Rashad Nadir allegedly boasted of withholding treatment from Israeli patients and even killing them.
Ms Kadadi on Thursday said her client had been subjected to a ‘trial by social media’.
‘It is important to remind everyone that our system in Australia is one where every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Viral outrage is not a court of law. My client has the right to a fair trial, not a trial by social media.
‘My client has been labelled by political leaders as guilty and a criminal before charges were even laid. The application of justice should not be selective. Our leaders ought to know better.’
Ms Kadadi declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
Sydney defence lawyer Rayan Kadadi (pictured) is representing Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who on Tuesday night was charged over footage that shocked Australia
Sarah Abu Lebdeh (right) and fellow nurse Ahmad Rashad Nadir (left) allegedly boasted of withholding treatment from Israeli patients and even killing them
Her social media shows that in 2024 she offered pro bono legal representation to people charged over pro-Palestinian protests.
Detectives arrested 26-year-old Abu Lebdeh when she attended Sutherland Police Station in southern Sydney with Ms Kadadi on Tuesday evening.
The Condell Park woman was charged with three Commonwealth offences: threatening violence to group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
She was granted conditional bail and is scheduled to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on March 19.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that Abu Lebdeh was being closely monitored while on bail.
‘She is on very, very strict bail conditions, namely prohibiting her from going to a point of departure from Australia, but more importantly, banned from using social media,’ Ms Webb said.
As for Nadir, police have yet to speak to him or charge him as he receives ‘ongoing medical treatment,’ after he was rushed to hospital on February 13 with concerns for his mental health.
It’s understood that Nadir’s situation has hampered the ability to interview him.
