A British woman found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus has won her appeal to overturn the conviction at the country’s supreme court.
The 21-year-old university student from Derby was given a suspended four-month jail term in 2020 by a Cypriot judge, who found her guilty of public mischief following a trial at Famagusta district court in Paralimni.
The story garnered international attention when the young girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accused up to 12 Israeli tourists of sexual assault while on holiday in the party town of Ayia Napa on July 17 2019.
The woman was charged after signing a retraction statement 10 days later but has since maintained she was pressured by officers to withdraw the rape allegation.
The court heard how the girl's retraction should have never been submitted into evidence because it was made by a vulnerable teenager who had spent almost seven hours in a police station without a lawyer.
Her team of English and Cypriot lawyers took her appeal to the supreme court in the capital Nicosia in September, arguing the conviction is unsafe and should be set aside.
The court has now ruled the appeal and overturned the conviction, according to her lawyers, who welcomed the decision but said her original allegations should now be investigated.
The woman’s Cypriot lawyer, Nicoletta Charalambidou, said: “This is a very important day for women’s rights and in particular for victims of rape or other forms of sexual violence in Cyprus.
“The acquittal by the supreme court of the young teenager points to the failure of the authorities to effectively investigate the rape claims she reported. This is what we will now pursue.”
Speaking on behalf of the woman, her family said in a statement: "It is a great relief we hear that the authorities in Cyprus have recognised the flaws in their legal process.
“Whilst this decision doesn’t excuse the way she was treated by the police or the judge or those in authority, it does bring with it the hope that my daughter’s suffering will at least bring positive changes in the way that victims of crime are treated.
“Of course, if justice is to be done, an authority would need to pick up on the evidence that was gathered in Cyprus and do with it what should have happened at the outset.”
When it was initially reported, the case sparked outcry in the UK, where #IBelieveHer and #BoycottCyprus trended on Twitter as news of her conviction spread.
The British lawyer who co-ordinated the appeal, Michael Polak, from the Justice Abroad organisation, said: “This is a watershed moment, not just for our client who 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, but also for others around the world in similar positions.
“We have always maintained that our client was not given a fair trial and today the supreme court of Cyprus has agreed with us.”
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Kimberley Bond