19yo Briton given suspended sentence for making up gang rape claims in Cyprus
by RT
19yo Briton given suspended sentence for making up gang rape claims in Cyprus
A young British woman, who recanted her claim that she was raped by a group of Israeli men in a Cyprus hotel, was given a four-month suspended sentence for what a local court termed ‘public mischief’.
The court sentence for the 19-year-old was suspended for three years, and she has been ordered to pay €148 in legal fees. The ruling, closely watched by women’s rights groups, brings good news for her family as it means that she can now return to the UK.
She was given “a second chance” according to judge Michalis Papathanasiou, who read out the verdict. He led a three-month trial in which the young woman was accused of public mischief after recanting her claim that she was raped by 12 Israeli holidaymakers last July.
Her case resonated widely in the British press when it emerged she had allegedly been forced by Cypriot investigators to sign a retraction statement – something police have denied.
London piled enormous pressure on Cypriot authorities, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab demanding that they “make it right” and not impose a heavy penalty on the woman.
