Cyprus rape case: Lawyers for British teen to argue she didn’t get a fair trial

The “discourtesy” of a Cypriot judge towards a British teenager accused of lying about being raped will form part of the woman’s appeal against her conviction.

The 19-year-old woman had initially told police in Ayia Napa, Cyprus that she was raped by 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room on 17 July 2019, but signed a retraction 10 days later.

Her retraction meant she was charged with public mischief, but she maintained in court that she was pressured into withdrawing her allegation.

She was found guilty of the charge in January by Judge Michalis Papathanasiou at the Famagusta district court in Paralimni, and was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for three years.

The teenager flew back to her home in Derbyshire and has since vowed to clear her name.

Her lawyers have now submitted a 154-page outline argument before her appeal against the conviction, which is expected to be dealt with in Cyprus’ Supreme Court later in the year.

The lawyers said: “It will be submitted that the judge at the district court did not provide the defendant with a fair hearing and closed his mind to an essential element of the offence by continuously shouting ‘this is not a rape trial, I don’t want to hear evidence about rape’ as well as preventing the defence team from properly examining and putting forward evidence which supported the teenager’s account that a rape had taken place as described.

“It will be submitted on behalf of the teenager that as well as seeming to prejudge elements of the offence as set out above, the trial judge also acted with discourtesy towards the teenager and the defence representative in such a way so as to deny the teenager a fair trial.”

They also argue that the judge did not properly look at all the evidence, including the DNA of three of the Israeli men and boys found on a condom that had blood on it – suggesting the woman had been raped, as well as claim the judge had “not acted without bias”.

Michael Polak, from Justice Abroad, who is co-ordinating the appeal, said: “We have submitted a detailed skeleton argument which sets out exactly why the teenager’s conviction, which was reported around the world in January, is unsafe and needs to be overturned.

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“This skeleton refers to a number of authorities from Cyprus, common law jurisdictions and the European Court of Human Rights which strongly support what we have been saying about this case for a long time, that the teenager should not have been found guilty and that for her to have to go through life with this conviction would be a miscarriage of justice.”

The 12 Israelis, aged between 15 and 20, were initially arrested but denied the rape claims and were released and sent home.

(c) Sky News 2020: Cyprus rape case: Lawyers for British teen to argue she didn’t get a fair trial