Female accuser kept in the dark as rape case dropped

A woman who has accused a Larnaca politician of rape ten years ago says she was left in the dark over a recent decision not to prosecute the case, asking publicly the state attorney general to explain why his office dropped the case.

Earlier this year, Andriana Sielli went public with allegations against Larnaca councilor Andreas Ttaouxis, saying he had raped her back in 2011.

Sielli said she had decided to go public after learning that Ttaouxis, who was running for parliament, had allegedly victimized other women.

“Back then no authority and no community was ready to listen to us in a time of panic,” she had written on social media.

Ttaouxis denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty in October to a single count of rape, after prosecutors withdrew abduction and false imprisonment charges.

Last week the politician surprised everyone on Facebook with a personal post saying he felt vindicated after a decision by the attorney general’s office to dismiss the case.

“There was never a case to prosecute in court, this is the only truth,” the councilor said.

But Sielli says she was never provided with any official document that would explain why the case had been dismissed.

The accuser took to Twitter on Tuesday tagging Attorney General George Savvides and calling on him either to explain why the case had been dropped or provide a date for the next hearing in court.

“Mr. Savvides I am requesting an official written report that will explain what were the gaps in the case and why a proper trial could not take place,” Sielli wrote.

It was not clear whether the woman had any communication with the Legal department but she said she first learned about the case withdrawal from social media some days earlier and contacted the public defender who had been assigned to her case.

“I ask of you to document the reasons why you closed the case after (eight) months. Otherwise it should proceed normally through the court and let a judge evaluate how reliable are the testimonies, mine and those of other witnesses,” Sielli said.