British woman held in Cyprus over false rape claims against 12 teens
A British woman who said she had been raped in Cyprus has been arrested on suspicion of making false allegations.
Seven Israeli teenagers were yesterday freed from custody after the 19-year-old woman admitted her report of being raped by a dozen people was untrue.
A lawyer for two of the Israelis said the woman was arrested and faced a public nuisance charge.
The Foreign Office said it was supporting a British woman and her family following her arrest in Cyprus.
She will appear in court today.
Cypriot authorities had arrested 12 Israeli teenagers on 18 July following the woman’s allegation of being raped by a dozen youths at a hotel in the tourist resort of Ayia Napa where she and the Israelis were staying.
The group, aged from 15 to 20, had denied the claim.
Five were released on Thursday after investigators found no evidence implicating them.
Investigators concluded the accuser’s allegations “didn’t stand to reason”, lawyer Yiannis Habaris said.
A law enforcement official said the woman voluntarily recanted during questioning just after midnight, saying there had been sexual contact with the suspects but she wasn’t raped.
The Cyprus News Agency reported she told investigators she filed a rape report because she was “angry and insulted” that a number of the Israelis allegedly recorded videos of her having sex with some of them.
As the Israeli teens were released from police headquartersyesterdayinthetown of Paralimni, jubilant relatives were there to greet them with hugs and kisses.
Some of the youths carried suitcases and got into waiting cars that drove them away.
Investigators told a Paralimni court during a custody hearing on Friday the British woman was in a relationship with one of the seven suspects and had sexual contact with several of the other six over several days, Mr Habaris said.
The 12 Israelis had gone to Cyprus in three separate groups – some for a holiday before being joining the army – and didn’t know each other, according to Nir Yaslovitzh, an Israeli lawyer representing three of the dozen suspects.
Cypriot police provided DNA samples to Israeli authorities to trace three other individuals as potential suspects, but that assistance is no longer necessary since the case collapsed, Mr Habaris said.
More than 1.3 million British tourists visited Cyprus last year.