Newsroom
A new twist in the Ayia Napa gang rape case emerged on Sunday night, after The Sun ran a story about the alleged victim who says police dictated her confession and used threats to make her sign.
(Click here for an update to the story)
The 19-year-old British female student, who said last month she was gang raped in a Ayia Napa hotel room, gave her side of the story according to The Sun, with the teenager claiming local police officers dictated a confession statement for her by which she admitted faking the allegations.
Twelve Israeli teens were arrested following the rape complaint in mid July but have since been released on what police said was lack of incriminating evidence and an admission by the rape accuser that her allegations were false. She is due in court Wednesday to answer to charges of public mischief, while the suspects reportedly are all back in Israel.
'She wept and begged him to stop. She claimed he refused, then invited his friends to join in'
The British teen was told she could not leave the police station and was further not advised that she was free to walk away at any point, according to British barrister Michael Polak who is leading the defence.
“The confession was obtained under oppression given the threats made. She was not cautioned and was not given access to a lawyer as was her right under the European Convention on Human rights,” Polak reportedly said.
The attorney also pointed to the proceedings at the Paralimni police station which were not recorded, saying this was “unfortunate.”
After police charged the alleged victim with public mischief, citing she had made false statements in her complaint, it was widely reported that she admitted having consensual sex but allegedly tried to get back at the teens for making her feel humiliated.
But according to The Sun, the girl said while she was having sex with one suspect, with whom she had a fling during the vacation, other teens were present and he had become more aggressive.
“She wept and begged him to stop. She claimed he refused, then invited his friends to join in. She told police she finally fled naked and found her friends,” The Sun reported.
The Sun also published a message the girl had sent to friends to alert them of her situation, according to an image in the Sun that appeared to be an incomplete text.
“I said I have a right to have a lawyer here. Not in Cyprus, maybe the UK not Cyprus. They’ve honestly made me sign false . . . ”
According to the report, the girl messaged her friends warning them “bad things with police” and that they were getting ready to issue international warrants against them on conspiracy charges.
Last week, the local lawyer on the defence team, Andreas Pittadjis, was quoted in the media as saying his client was the victim of revenge porn.
Pittadjis acknowledged the seriousness of the charges but also pointed out that recording and leaking a gangbang sex video during the incident without his client’s consent was also a punishable offence both in Cyprus and Israel.
