Cyprus court: British teen guilty of fabricating rape claims

A Cyprus court on Monday found a 19 year-old British woman guilty of fabricating claims that she was gang raped by 12 Israelis in a hotel room at a tourist resort in the east Mediterranean island nation, saying that her story lacked credibility.

Famagusta District Court Judge Michalis Papathanasiou said the defendant didn't tell the truth and tried to deceive the court with "evasive" statements in her testimony.

The woman says she is innocent and will appeal the ruling.

The case had triggered widespread interest in Britain and Israel. It was reported as a shocking gang rape until Cypriot authorities cast down on the woman's account.

The woman, who has not been identified, was found guilty of the charge of "public mischief," which carries a maximum fine of 1,700 euros (USD 1,900) and up to a year imprisonment. She will remain in Cyprus until her Jan. 7 sentencing.

Emerging from the court house after the verdict, both the woman and her mother wore strips of fabric over their mouths onto which stitched lips were drawn.

The woman told investigators that she had been raped by as many as a dozen Israelis aged 15-20 on July 17.

Cyprus police said she retracted the allegations 10 days later after investigators found what they said were inconsistencies in her statements.

Taking the stand earlier in the trial, the British woman said that while she was having sex with her boyfriend, she was pinned down and others who entered the room raped her.

The judge said the defendant admitted to investigators under questioning that she had lied and apologised.

He said she made up the claims because she was "ashamed" after finding out that some of the Israelis 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."
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 didn't sign the retraction, adding that she "even feared for her life."
Judge Papathanasiou dismissed her testimony as being "exaggerated, confused, contradictory and incoherent."
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."
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."