The 19-year-old British tourist held in Cyprus on charges of making false claims of gang-rape by a group of Israelis has claimed she was forced to sign a fictional ‘confession’ concocted by police officers, the Mail Online has reported.
The teenager also claims she was denied a lawyer and made to sign the statement after being kept at the police station for eight hours without any contact with the outside world.
She could face a year in jail if she is found guilty of making up the allegations against the 12 Israelis, who were aged 15 - 18.
Shame on the @DailyMailUK for breaking identity laws and identifying the woman involved in the alleged incident in Ayia Napa in their article. #dailyfail pic.twitter.com/hgKFOidYv8
— Rachael Gallagher (@Facebookgotcrap) July 29, 2019
Michael Polak, the British barrister representing the teenager, said the confession was “obtained under oppression given the threats made”, and his client was neither cautioned nor granted access to a lawyer as is her right under the European Convention on Human rights.
“Further, she wasn’t told she could leave the police station nor given the option of leaving at any point. It’s also understood unfortunately none of the proceedings at the Cypriot police station were recorded,” he added.
Whatever the truth of the matter, text messages reveal she frantically contacted friends minutes before she was charged at 2.30am, claiming police wouldn’t let her speak to anyone.
British woman who was gang raped by Israelis has now been arrested for making up the crimes.#AyiaNapa #Cyprus
— ☘️Rayray🦁 (@therayjeem) July 28, 2019
Sounds like she was coerced into sleeping with them or the interrogation by Cypriot authorities has got to her pic.twitter.com/OMn2QDBPuy
“Bad things with police. They think it's a conspiracy and they threatened an international arrest warrant to arrest you all for it,” she said in one missive.
The Israelis, who were holidaying prior to commencing mandatory national service, claim they engaged in drunken consensual sex with her at a hotel. Several have expressed a desire to take civil action against her, while she is planning a counter action after footage of the incident supposedly spread widely on social media in Israel and elsewhere.
The case was adjourned until 7th August for a plea hearing after the woman’s legal team requested more time to review evidence, including the video.
