ByMATHILDA HELLER
Updated:

New South Wales Supreme Court has ruled that the video recording of two former Bankstown Hospital nurses making antisemitic threats is admissible evidence in the criminal case against them, overturning a previous decision that excluded it from evidence.

The criminal case in question relates to a conversation between Israeli content creator Max Veifer and nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh on the app Chatruletka last February.

During this call, the two nurses said they would harm Israeli patients (Abu Lebdeh: “I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them”); ( Nadir: “You have no idea how many Israeli s*** dogs came to this hospital, and I sent them to hell.”)

When Veifer asked what would happen if “just Jewish people” came for treatment, Nadir appeared to have disconnected the call.

On June 23 of this year, NSW Judge Michael McHugh ruled that the video was obtained improperly, breached Australian data privacy law and therefore could not be admitted.

The outside of the Supreme Court of New South Wales building is seen in Sydney on October 9, 2013; Illustrative.
The outside of the Supreme Court of New South Wales building is seen in Sydney on October 9, 2013; Illustrative. (credit: WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

“Ultimately, I have come to the firm view that all the video evidence must be excluded from each of the trials of the applicants,” the judge said.

However, on Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned this and ruled that the unedited video is admissible evidence.

The video recording did not break any NSW laws

According to ABC, Barrister for the Crown, Paul Holdenson KC, said the recording was created by an individual in Israel, and therefore it did not break any NSW laws.

“Mr Ilinsky was sitting in Israel at the time of the conversation,” he told the court. “His computer was with him in Israel.”

The defense barrister argued that the former nurses’ computer had a microphone used to record the conversation.

“What was used was the microphone in the room at the hospital … in order to capture the sound,” he said. “The conversation may also have been in Israel …, but it is also in New South Wales.”

The reasons for the final judgment have not been published publicly, pending court approval.

The nurses have pleaded not guilty to all charges and are due to stand trial from August 31.