UK woman convicted of lying about Cyprus gang rape claim ‘upbeat’ as appeal begins
A British woman is said to be ‘anxious but upbeat’ as her appeal against a conviction for lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus begins.
The woman, 21, was given a suspended four-month jail term last year after she went to police alleging she had been attacked by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in Ayia Napa.
She then was charged herself after signing a retraction statement 10 days later saying the claims were false.
Her lawyers say this document should not be relied on, however, saying it was made by a vulnerable teenager who had spent almost seven hours in a police station without a lawyer.
The woman, who was 19 at the time, says she was pressured by police to withdraw the allegation and has now vowed to clear her name.
An appeal at the country’s Supreme Court was heard today, but a decision is not expected for up to six months.
A judge initially found the woman, from Derby, guilty of public mischief following a trial.
She had come forward about the alleged attack, saying it happened on July 17 2019.
As soon as she was sentenced, she flew home from the holiday island and is now a university student.
She says that having the conviction on her record will hinder her in the future, when she applies for jobs.
Her team of English and Cypriot lawyers took the appeal to the Supreme Court in Nicosia today arguing the conviction is unsafe and should be set aside.
The woman did not attend the hearing in front of a panel of three judges, including the English-born president Persefoni Panayi.
Her English barrister Lewis Power QC said ahead of the hearing: ‘She’s bearing up really well. She is getting on with her life at university.
‘She is very anxious about the result but she is fairly upbeat and determined that this won’t ruin her life.
‘We spoke to her yesterday and her mother. They are back in the UK watching from afar.’
Mr Power added: ‘This is the biggest case here in the last decade beyond a shadow of a doubt and the world is watching.
‘It is so important for young women across the world.’
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.
Adamos Demosthenous, representing the Cyprus attorney general, said the appeal should not be heard because the woman had criticised the trial judge in an ITV documentary, but the court ruled against the submission and heard the arguments.
The woman’s lawyers said the conviction was unsafe as it was based on the unfair retraction document.
Her Cypriot lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou, also said the lower court started from the position that there was no rape and had misunderstood the offence of public mischief, which requires a false statement of a make-believe crime.
She said the trial judge, Michalis Papathanasiou, did not allow the defendant to talk about the alleged rape, pointing to the seven times he said: ‘This is not a rape trial.’
He was also said to have ignored defence expert evidence and failed to consider police failures in investigating the rape allegations.
Sentencing her last January, the judge said the evidence showed she had ‘lied’ but added: ‘Her psychological state, her youth, that she has been away from her family, her friends and academic studies this year, this has led me to decide to give her a second chance and suspend the sentence for three years.’
Speaking after the hearing the woman’s English barrister, Lewis Power QC, said: ‘I think it was a very fruitful hearing where the court asked very poignant questions, considered the legal arguments and identified the points which will ultimately decide this appeal.
‘We cannot pre-empt the decision of the court, but we were glad to see the court had given much thought and considerable consideration to a very, very difficult case.’
Another member of the legal team, Michael Polak, added: ‘Without wanting to pre-judge the decision of the Supreme Court, we feel we were happy with the way proceedings went today and the way the judges engaged with our arguments.’
If the appeal fails, the lawyers plan to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which the woman’s lawyers said found against Cyprus after a teenager was taken to a police station in Limassol and separated from his father before confessing to murder without a lawyer present.
The case has attracted widespread publicity and dozens of protesters gathered outside the court building, banging drums, chanting and clapping their hands.
One banner read ‘End rape culture’ and another, ‘I believe her’.
Christina Kaili, from the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, said: ‘The Cyprus justice system must comply with international conventions and make sure that victims have access to justice, protection and to feel that they are believed.’
The 12 Israeli young men and boys, aged between 15 and 20 at the time, arrested over the incident denied any wrongdoing, were freed and returned home.
Mr Power said: ‘The young woman’s story has reverberated around the world since it hit the headlines in 2019.
‘It has been both shocking and distressing and has for her been deeply harrowing, humiliating and personally intrusive.
‘Yet she has risen above this with grit and determination and has courageously resolved to continue to fight this case to the end, when she believes that ultimately justice will be done.
‘Today though, we hope, the Supreme Court of Cyprus, this girl can free herself from the shackles of an unjust conviction, which has tarnished her young life.’
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