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The lawyer of a British teen, who is accused of making false statements to police in a rape complaint in Ayia Napa, says his client is a victim of revenge porn and wants to know who leaked a gangbang sex video.
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After a nearly two-week investigation based on allegations of gang rape, a dozen Israeli late teens who were arrested as suspects have been released, while the 19-year-old British female accuser remains jailed in Ayia Napa facing charges of public mischief.
She is being accused of making false statements to police following an alleged rape incident, which prompted police to arrest twelve suspects in the case. The teens eventually all walked free and went back to Israel to a hero’s welcome, after the girl clarified that sex was consensual and that she reportedly felt angry and humiliated after being hazed and filmed without her consent.
The young woman is facing serious charges with a maximum prison sentence up to one year, while her lawyer, Andreas Pittadjis, was quoted in the media as saying his client was the victim of revenge porn.
Revenge porn
Pittadjis, a well known and outspoken local attorney, was referring to an explicit sex video that has been circulating online through WhatsApp, according to The Times of Israel. The video allegedly shows the British teen having sex in the company of young males, while still images of the encounter have also appeared on various porn websites.
'The fact that a video of my client appears to have gone around the world is a much more serious offence,' her lawyer said
The defence lawyer acknowledged the seriousness of the charges against his client but also pointed out that leaking the video is also a punishable offence both in Cyprus and Israel.
“The fact that the video of my client appears to have gone around the world is a much more serious offence,” Pittadjis said.
A video of the sexual encounter appears to have been shown to police, according to media reports, but it was not clear whether the actual content was in fact during the alleged gang rape which was purported to have taken place on July 17 shortly after midnight. The rape accuser reportedly had a fling with one of the main suspects prior to the alleged gang rape.
Gangbang sex video
According to media reports, the footage was said to have been showing a group of males making derogatory comments in Hebrew about the British teen, the only female in the room, during what appears to have been a gangbang-style video.
The complainant had initially told police that as she was having consensual sex, other Israeli teens barged into the room laughing and recording video with their phones as others assaulted her sexually and raped her.
While the rape allegations were retracted for all suspects, one source cited by The Times of Israel said a video of the incident could be found online, with the voice of one of the male teens heard during the encounter.
“You’re my whore, say you are my whore,” a male teen voice is heard saying.
The girl then responded that she did not understand and one person said back to her that it meant “you are sexy.”
The teens maintained from the beginning they were innocent of the rape allegations, while the accuser is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday to answer to charges in connection to making false statements.
It was never clarified whether the British teen had pointed to all twelve suspects in her initial complaint or whether police were led to the dozen suspects based on details in her allegations. Investigators had said initially they had evidence pointing to all twelve suspects, with later narrowing them down to seven based on DNA and phone records, and ultimately releasing everyone based on having been falsely accused.
Criticism over sex video
But while the Israeli public initially showed support for the dozen upon hearing about false rape accusations, some criticism emerged more recently following news of sex videos recorded and published without the girl’s consent, which is an offence in Cyprus and Israel.
On July 30 female judge Tonia Antoniou ordered the British teen jailed, citing flight risk, until August 7 when the young woman is expected to be named a defendant in the case and will be called to enter a plea to the charges of public mischief. The Famagusta district judge also spoke of an alleged false rape claim that had far-reaching repercussions on the twelve teenagers including minors.
The British teen is currently in Nicosia Central Prisons on a judge’s remand while her exact status is unclear. She is neither in remanded custody pending an investigation nor has she been arraigned in a court of law. The defence attorney said he requested an adjournment in order to go over the evidence so that his client will be ready to answer to the charges.
