An unidentified British teenage woman has been sentenced today over a claim of gang rape in Cyprus, following months of controversial legal proceedings.
The 19-year-old reported on July 17 that she was attacked by 12 Israeli tourists at Ayia Napa’s Pampos Napa Rock hotel where she had been staying, retracting her statement 10 days later.
As a result of the retraction, she was accused of exaggerating the incident, sentenced today to a four-month suspended prison sentence, after being found guilty of lying about the gang-rape and accused of causing public mischief.
The sentence means that she will be allowed to return home, with her prison time suspended for three years. Her lawyer Lewis Power QC has explained that they would be appealing.
The unidentified woman maintains that she was gang raped after having consensual sex with one of the Israeli tourists. She also claims that she retracted her statement after being pressured by Cypriot police, following hours of unrecorded questioning without a lawyer present.
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This case has unsurprisingly thrown women’s rights into the spotlight, with groups protesting the trial and sentencing all over the world, sparking the #Ibelieveher and #boycottcyprus campaigns.
Taking a stand against victim-shaming, hundred of protesters gathered in London outside the Cypriot high commission last night, marching through the streets chanting, ‘We believe her’.
‘The message we want to send is to the victim herself, to say you are not alone, we hear you, we see you,’ announced one of its organisers, Verity Nevitt, via The Guardian.
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‘Whilst we welcome the fact that the sentence imposed today allows her to go home, we strongly contest the conviction and the fight for her innocence will go on regardless,’ the teenager’s lawyer, Lewis Power QC, announced. ‘We will be appealing the conviction and will take this case to the European court of human rights.’
The statement continued: ‘We say and will maintain that this young girl was stripped both of her dignity and her basic human rights. She has been diagnosed with severe PTSD and this case has resulted in the deterioration of her mental health.
‘This case has far-reaching repercussions for women travelling abroad and has highlighted the need for appropriate representation,’ Lewis Power QC stated following the sentencing. ‘This young woman has shown immense bravery, courage and fortitude in coming forward.’
The teenager and her family are expected to fly back to the UK today.
The post The Cyprus gang rape teenage girl's sentencing will deter future sexual assault victims coming forward appeared first on Marie Claire.
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