‘Rape’ accuser all smiles

CYPRUS: 4-MONTH SUSPENDED FOR TEEN WHO FALSELY ACCUSED ISRAELIS

‘Judge, shame on you, don’t you have a daughter too?’

ACypriot court yesterday handed a British teenager a four-month suspended prison sentence after convicting her of falsely accusing a dozen Israeli tourists of gang rape.

The 19-year-old, who could have faced up to a year in jail, smiled and hugged family at the end of a trial that sparked protests in Britain and calls for a boycott of the Mediterranean resort island.

Defence lawyers and activists say the case was littered with investigatory and legal mistakes and issues, including repeated refusals by the judge to consider whether she was raped.

The sentencing took place to loud shouts from protesters outside the court room, including dozens of Israelis – mainly women – who travelled to Cyprus to offer moral support to the teenager.

As the judge delivered his sentencing at the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, shouts of “Cyprus justice, shame on you” were audible in the court, despite police ordering journalists to close windows and blinds.

Other shouts from outside included “Judge, shame on you, don’t you have a daughter too?” and “Blaming the victim is a second rape!”

Lawyers for the woman, whom AFP is not naming, say she was raped in the seaside resort of Ayia Napa by 12 Israeli teenagers in their hotel room on 17 July.

She fled in distress to her own hotel and was examined by an in-house doctor, who called the police.

A group of Israeli teenagers were arrested and appeared in court, but 10 days after making a complaint of rape she was interviewed again by police and signed a retraction.

The Israelis, aged 15 to 18, were released without charge, allowed to return home and not called as witnesses.

Britain has said it was “seriously concerned” about whether the woman received a fair trial.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said London would follow up with Cypriot officials after hearing “the full facts” from the defence and family.

“I’m relieved that this vulnerable young lady will now be returning home to begin the process of recovery, given all that she’s been through,” Raab told reporters.

“There is a broader issue for Brits travelling not just in Cyprus or indeed in Europe, but travelling abroad... to make sure that they can do so as safely and as securely as possible.”

Judge Michalis Papathanasiou had told the young woman “statements you have given were false”, as he convicted her on 30 December of “public mischief”.

He said during the trial that her account was beset by “contradictions, confusion, lack of logic and exaggeration”.

Lewis Power, a British lawyer helping the woman, said she would appeal to the Supreme Court but it was unclear when any case would be heard, because the “wheels of justice move very slowly in Cyprus”. –