The British woman who was raped by Israelis in Ayia Napa four years ago attacked Cypriot authorities in comments to the Daily Mail on Friday, saying she hopes that they “don’t add insult to injury” to the latest gang rape victim in the resort town.
The woman, who was 19 years old at the time, was initially accused by the Israelis of falsely claiming she was raped and signed a retraction with a Cypriot court sentencing her to four months in jail for charges of public mischief for filing a false complaint.
Last year, however, the Supreme Court in Cyprus overturned her conviction after she maintained she was pressured to withdraw the allegations and that it should not have been admitted in the trial because the teenager was suffering from PTSD and did not have a lawyer or translator.
Earlier this week, six Israeli citizens were arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of the rape of another British tourist, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, in an incident mirroring the one in which the woman was gang raped by 12 Israelis in 2019.
Israeli tourists, arrested over the alleged rape of a British tourist in the resort town of Ayia Napa, arrive to appear before a magistrate for a remand hearing in the Famagusta courthouse in Paralimni, Cyprus (credit: REUTERS/YIANNIS KOURTOGLOU)UK rape victim: Cypriot authorities must not victim-blame again
The 2019 victim spoke out on the recent events and told the Daily Mail that “we send our heartfelt support to the young woman at the center of these reports.
“We hope that the Cypriot authorities don’t add the insult to injury of victim-blaming that led to pre-trial imprisonment and the wrongful prosecution that was successfully appealed at great emotional and financial cost,” her statement read.
Lewis Power, a lawyer involved in the court battle against the woman’s conviction, added that “history has repeated itself with an almost blueprint copy crime.
“The world will be watching even closer to see how justice will be acted out,” he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. “This time we are told that the suspects will be held to facilitate their investigation and that the arrests came after police secured witness testimony to support the allegation.
“It was only one year ago when the Supreme Court quashed the conviction…that fight still carries on to the doors of the European Court of Human Rights where it will be argued that her rights were violated, that the case was mishandled and that there was a wholesale failure in the investigatory process.”
“We only hope this time that the mistakes of the past do not return.”
The Israeli suspects, all 19-20 years old, were arrested with their detention extended to next week as Cypriot authorities gather evidence and testimonies.
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