Woman convicted of rape ‘lies’ is aiming to clear her name

LAWYERS representing a Derby woman found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus have said they hope the conviction could be overturned within a month ahead of an appeal at the country’s Supreme Court.

The then 19-year-old was handed a suspended four-month jail term last year by a judge who found her guilty of public mischief following a trial. She told police she was attacked by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in the party town of Ayia Napa on July 17, 2020, but was charged after signing a retraction statement 10 days later.

Now a 21-year-old university student, the woman has maintained she was pressured by officers to withdraw the rape allegation and has vowed to clear her name, having flown home from the holiday island hours after being sentenced.

Her team of English and Cypriot lawyers will today take the fight to the Supreme Court, in Cyprus capital Nicosia, arguing the conviction is unsafe and should be set aside.

The woman is not expected to attend the hearing in front of a panel of three judges. The woman’s lawyers have submitted a written document of around 150 pages, which they will expand on in oral arguments based on transcripts from the trial.

The legal team will argue the retraction statement, which formed the basis of the prosecution case, should never have been admitted into evidence because it was made by a vulnerable teenager who had spent almost seven hours in a police station without a lawyer.