Cyprus court overturns 'false rape' conviction

The highest court in Cyprus has overturned the conviction of a British woman who in 2019 alleged she was gang raped by a group of Israeli men.

A lower court in 2020 had found her guilty of making up the rape and handed her a four-month jail term.

Michael Polak, the director of UK-based group Justice Abroad who was part of the woman's team of lawyers, called the reversal of that decision a "watershed moment."

Speaking to reporters outside court, Polak said that in the interests of justice the next step required "a full review and investigation of the case," adding that it be should done by a different police force.

What we know about the case

The woman had been holidaying in Cyprus in 2019. Aged 19 at the time, she alleged she had been sexually assaulted by 12 Israelis in her hotel room in the popular tourist destination of Ayia Napa.

She had initially approached police to report the incident but withdrew the claim after persistent questioning without a lawyer present.

The Israelis, who were aged 15 to 22, were released without charge the same month after the 19-year-old woman was arrested. 

In 2020, a district court ruled that she had invented the rape claim.

Trial described as 'manifestly unfair'

Polak said that the "young, vulnerable woman was not only mistreated" when she reported the rape but had to endure a trial he described as "manifestly unfair as the Supreme Court has recognised."

Lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou called the ruling "a very important day for women's rights."

"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," a statement from the woman's family read.

The legal system in Cyprus was severely criticized by rights groups over the handling of the case, with claims the woman had been abused by police, the media and the country's courts. The British government also expressed its concerns about the judicial process in the country.

kb/nm (AP, Reuters)