A Cypriot court on Tuesday 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 smiled and hugged family after the sentence was handed down following a months-long trial that her lawyers have said was littered with investigatory and legal mistakes and issues, including repeated refusals by the judge to consider whether she was raped.
The teen has said that she was coerced into withdrawing her complaint that she was raped on July 17 last year by a group of Israeli youths in Ayia Napa, a holiday resort popular with teenagers.
Photo: AFP
She fled in distress to her own hotel and was examined by an in-house doctor, who called the police.
The woman was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for three years.
Judge Michalis Papathanasiou said that he took into account the woman’s young age, clean criminal record and remorse.
“All mitigating factors were taken into account, but it does not negate the seriousness of the offense,” he said, adding that 12 individuals were briefly detained on the basis of her accusation.
Outside the courtroom a group of about 150 people demonstrated, including about 50 Israelis — mainly women, but some men — who traveled to Cyprus to offer moral support to the woman, shouting “blaming the victim is the second rape” and “Cyprus justice shame on you.”
Papathanasiou had to raise his voice to be heard over the chants.
On Monday last week, the court found the woman guilty of public mischief, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail, a fine or both.
She was convicted of filing a fake report about being sexually assaulted.
Lewis Power, a British lawyer who is part of the woman’s legal team, said that she would leave Cyprus by the end of the day.
An appeal to the Cypriot Supreme Court “will begin in the next few days,” but it was not clear when any case would be heard, because the “wheels of justice move very slowly in Cyprus,” he said.
The case has highlighted “a gaping chasm in the treatment” of victims of sexual assault in Cyprus relative to other jurisdictions, Power added.
The woman has insisted that an attack took place, but that she was pressured to withdraw her complaint during overnight questioning from police and with no lawyer present.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab has said that he has “very serious concerns” about the treatment of the woman, who had been banned from leaving the island and whom her lawyers have said is suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Twelve Israeli youths who were detained for questioning were swiftly released after the woman recanted her accusation. They were not required to give any evidence at the woman’s trial.
Cypriot newspapers have reported that authorities were poised to give a presidential pardon.
A senior government source told reporters that was premature and would depend on the court sentencing, but that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was following the case closely.
The case has drawn a harsh spotlight on Cyprus, which is popular with British vacationers, and calls to boycott the island.
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
RSS