A A) **************************** – year old British woman, right, covers her face as she leaves from the Famagusta court after her trial, in Paralimni, Cyprus, Monday, Dec. (********************************, . A Cyprus court on Monday found a 30 year-old British woman guilty of fabricating claims that she was gang raped by Israeli men. ********** AP Photo / Philippos Christou The judge said the defendant admitted to investigators under questioning that she had lied and apologized. He said she made up the claims because she was “ashamed” after finding out that some of the Italian had videoed her having consensual sex with her Israeli boyfriend on their mobile phones. He said that the admission and her subsequent apology “was the only time the defendant told the truth.”
The court heard that a physical examination of the woman after she filed the complaint to police found no evidence of rape. The judge rejected testimony from a pathologist testifying for the defense that rape couldn’t be ruled out. All The returned home shortly after their release and their defense lawyers said they would sue the woman for damages.
During the trial, the British woman said that she felt threatened by investigators while she was being questioned and that she feared she would be arrested if she did sign the retraction, adding that she “even feared for her life.” Judge Papathanasiou dismissed her testimony as being “exaggerated, confused, contradictory and incoherent.”
Defense lawyer Ritsa Pekri asked the court to mitigate her sentence, saying that she regretted her actions and only did what she did out of “immaturity,” and because she was under strong psychological pressure. Pekri said the woman is on anti-depressants.
Outside of the court, Nicoletta Charalambidou, another lawyer on the British woman’s legal team, said the conviction was expected and that an appeal would be filed to Cyprus’ Supreme Court because defense lawyers feel that their client’s rights to a fair trial had been “violated to a significant degree.”
Michael Polak with the group Justice Abroad, which also helped defend the British woman, said the appeal will be based on the premise that there was evidence indicating that the woman had been raped, but that the judge refused to consider it. Polak said the woman “is determined for justice to be done in her case as well as to help change the culture towards victims of sexual offences in Cyprus.”
According toBBC News, the woman spent more than a month in prison before she was granted bail in August, but was not allowed to leave the island. Her mother told BBC the past few months have been a “living nightmare,” and criticized what she described as a lack of support from authorities. She also said her daughter had post traumatic stress disorder, with symptoms becoming “much worse” since the alleged attack.
The lawyer for some of the 12 Accused of gang raping her welcomed the ruling. Lawyer Nir Yaslovitzh called for a “harsh sentence” in order to deter “all those accusers who find it OK to make up false” accusations.
About people from the group Network Against Violence Against Women staged a brief protest outside the court house after the verdict was announced, chanting slogans in support of the British woman. Some wore strips of cloth with stitched lips drawn on them over their mouths.
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