Woman found guilty over rape claim
A BRITISH teenager has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus, after the judge said she made the claim because she was “embarrassed” about being filmed having sex.
The woman, 19, said she was attacked by up to 12 Israeli tourists in an Ayia Napa hotel on July 17 before making a retraction statement 10 days later.
She maintains that she was raped but pressured into changing her account by Cypriot police. The teenager was convicted of a single count of public mischief at a packed Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, yesterday.
“The defendant gave police a false rape claim, while having full knowledge that this was a lie,” Judge Michalis Papathanasiou said.
“The reason why she initially gave false statements was because she realised that she was being recorded while she was having sexual intercourse and so she was placed in a difficult position and felt embarrassed.”
The teenager was a week into a working holiday the summer before she was due to start university when she alleged she was raped by the group of young Israeli men.
All 12 Israelis arrested over the alleged attack returned home after they were released.
THE CYPRIOT justice system has been criticised over the treatment of a British teenager who was convicted of lying about being gang raped.
The case against the 19-yearold hinged on a retraction statement she signed while alone in a police station, without a lawyer, following questioning by detectives that was not recorded.
After the conviction, defence lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou, said she plans to appeal against the verdict.
“We believe there have been many violations of the procedure and the rights of a fair trial of our client have been violated.
“We are planning to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court... and if justice fails we are planning to take our case to the European Court of Human Rights.”
The teenager said she was attacked by up to 12 Israeli tourists on July 17 before making a retraction statement 10 days later.
The teenager was a week into a working holiday the summer before she was due to start university when she alleged she was raped.
The teenager said in court she was “forced” by police to change her story, telling the judge she was “scared for my life”. The 19-year-old added: “I didn’t think I would leave that police station without signing that statement.”
Cypriot police insisted she willingly signed the retraction statement.
Judge Michalis Papathanasiou found her guilty of public mischief after a trial at Famagusta District Court.
He said: “There was no rape, or violence, and police had carried out a thorough investigation making all necessary arrests.
“The reason why she initially gave false statements was because she realised that she was being recorded while she was having sexual intercourse and so she was placed in a difficult position and felt embarrassed.”
Sentencing was adjourned until January 7. The teenager spent more than a month in prison before she was granted bail at the end of August and has not been allowed to leave the island. She could face up to a year in jail when she is sentenced.
Michael Polak, a lawyer from
A serious failure of Cyprus’s legal system to pursue justice.
How lawyer Alexandra Patsalides described the conviction of the teenager.
the Justice Abroad group, which is assisting her, said: “Shutting down questioning from our Cypriot advocates and the production of evidence into the trial on a handful of occasions, the judge stridently stated ‘this is not a rape case, I will not consider whether she was raped or not’.
“We have found it incredibly difficult to follow this logic given that an essential element of the offence is for there to be a ‘false statement concerning an imaginary offence’ and therefore, clearly if the teenager was raped, she cannot be guilty.”
Alexandra Patsalides, a human rights lawyer at Equality Now, which focuses on using the law to protect and promote women and girls’ rights around the world, said her treatment by the Cypriot police, the criminal justice system and local media was “extremely problematic”.
“When a rape victim retracts an allegation, police authorities should assess all the reasons why.”
“Finding her guilty while there remains the need for thorough investigations to be made regarding the alleged rape, procedures followed by authorities and the young woman’s treatment in custody, represent a serious failure of Cyprus’s legal system to pursue justice and to be seen to be doing so.”