- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ |
Cyprus court quashes UK woman's 'false gang rape' conviction
The Cyprus Supreme Court on Monday overturned the conviction of a young British woman who had been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists.
Defence lawyers successfully argued there had been a miscarriage of justice when a district court in January 2020 found her guilty of public mischief and handed her a suspended four-month jail term.
The woman, now aged 21, had in July 2019 told police she had been raped by the Israeli tourists, aged 15 to 22, in a hotel room in the Mediterranean island's resort town of Ayia Napa.
She was charged after she retracted her initial complaint, but later said she had been pressured to do so by local police.
The woman's family in a statement Monday asked that the rape case be re-investigated for "true justice" to be served.
Around 40 activists protested outside the court with banners saying "I believe her" and "end rape culture" and clapped when they heard the court's ruling.
The UK-based group Justice Abroad had assisted the woman, who did not attend Monday's hearing, and her family in their legal battle.
"This is a watershed moment," the group's Michael Polak, who co-ordinated the appeal, said in a statement.
He added that the woman "has always maintained her innocence, even when doing so caused her the hardship of not being able to return home during the lengthy trial proceedings.
"We have always maintained that our client was not given a fair trial, and today the Supreme Court of Cyprus has agreed with us."
He added that "important fair trial provisions, which are in place to prevent miscarriages of justice, were totally disregarded in this case.
"A young and vulnerable woman was not only mistreated when she reported the rape to the police but she was just put through a trial process that was manifestly unfair as the Supreme Court has recognised."
- 'Great relief' -
Lawyers said the woman was "shouted at and treated with contempt during the original trial".
"It became clear to those watching that the defence was fighting these proceedings with one hand tied behind our back and that a decision had been made as to guilt from the start of the trial process," said Polak.
During the hearing, before a three-judge bench, the defence team expanded on their detailed 154-page argument to explain to the court why the conviction was unsafe.
The woman, who was 19 at the time of her arrest, has accused Cypriot police of having forced her to sign a retraction statement, after which the Israeli suspects were released.
Justice Abroad said she was suffering from post-traumatic stress and that her retraction, taken after she had spent almost seven hours in a police station without a lawyer present, "should never have been admitted" into evidence.
Polak said Cyprus police had failed to download data from suspects' phones. It is alleged the Israelis filmed the alleged sexual assault on their mobile phones.
"We are pleased that our team has managed to secure this result against the odds and believe that the next step for justice to be done in this case is a full review and investigation by a different police force of the rape complaint put forward by our client," said Polak.
The woman's family welcomed the decision with "great relief" in a statement.
"Whilst this decision doesn't excuse the way she was treated, it does bring with it the hope that my daughters' suffering will at least bring positive changes in the way that victims of crime are treated," it said.
"Of course, if justice is to be done, an authority would need to pick up on the evidence that was gathered in Cyprus."
Defence Lewis Power QC said: "We hope that this decision will have far-reaching implications in the pursuit of justice for other victims of sexual assault.
"We commend the Cypriot Supreme Court for having the courage and wisdom to deliver this judgement."
L.Dubois--BTB