Shemaine Bushnell Kyriakides
Lawyers are launching an appeal on behalf of a British woman who was convicted of lying about being gang raped in the resort town of Ayia Napa back in July 2019.
The case will be heard by the Supreme Court in Nicosia this Thursday, 16th of September.
According to the Daily Telegraph, British and Cypriot lawyers will submit a 70 page memorandum stating that the sentencing and subsequent four month suspended imprisonment of the woman was “extremely unreliable” and should be overturned.
from the point of view of human rights, it is the most important case in Cyprus in the last ten years
British lawyer Michael Pollack stated that "from the point of view of human rights, it is the most important case in Cyprus in the last ten years".
He added that the case "will determine whether basic guarantees of a fair trial, such as the right to be represented by a lawyer and to have a fair trial, are protected in Cyprus".
The story made national and international headlines when the young woman from Darbyshire, England, aged 19 at the time, claimed she was gang raped by 12 Israeli boys at a resort in Ayia Napa.
She later withdrew her complaint, but later claimed that she was under pressure by Cyprus police to retract her statement, all without the presence of a lawyer.
She was subsequently convicted of public mischief in January of 2020 and was given a four month suspended sentence and allowed back to the UK.
Mr. Pollack stated that if the conviction would not be overturned it would affect the young lady for the rest of her life. Moreover, if the appeal does not result in the reversal of the conviction, the lawyers were ready to take to the European court of Human Rights.
