The 19-year-old British woman is returning to the United Kingdom, where the Famagusta District Court today sentenced her to 4 months in prison with a three-year suspension, after she was found guilty after a hearing in the category of public harm.
In a statement, the 19-year-old's mother told reporters from Cyprus, Britain and Israel, who flooded the court early this morning, "relief for the sentence" imposed on her daughter today and thanks for the support. , which the family received from all over the world.
She added that they will return to Britain today and then decide what to do about her daughter's future.
For his part, one of the lawyers of the 19-year-old, Lewis Power QC (Queens Council) described the case of a young woman who came to Cyprus from her hometown of Derbyshire as "incredibly sad and tragic".
He added that "essentially the girl would start a new chapter in her life, however, under very difficult circumstances overnight she turned from a victim into a perpetrator and had to endure not only the serious sexual assault committed against her by a group of young people, but also the prolonged mental ordeal by the Cypriot court process, accused of the crime of public harm, since for the Police this was a lie ".
He also said that the girl "is adamant about her innocence and has told the truth. While we welcome the fact that the sentence imposed today allows the girl to go home, however we strongly question her conviction and the fight for her innocence will continue with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Cyprus, while we are ready to reach the case until the European Court of Human Rights ", he noted.
Mr. Power also claimed that "the girl was literally stripped of her dignity and her basic human rights. "She has been diagnosed with severe PTSD and this case has resulted in her mental health deteriorating," she said, noting that she had to return to her home in the UK a long time ago to be with her family and be given the necessary psychological help and treatment that has been lacking so far.
According to the British lawyer, this failed case led to a "catastrophic situation, with the victim being found without access to appropriate legal and medical care". He added that during the interrogation the girl was not provided with a lawyer and a translator and noted that "this case showed the serious consequences that exist for women traveling abroad and the need for proper representation has been highlighted".
Answering questions, Mr. Power said that the appeal will be submitted within the next few days and within the timetables, that he does not know when the appeal will be heard in the Supreme Court since as he explained "the judicial process in Cyprus is moving slowly" and expressed the view that The 12 young people from Israel will not have to be summoned to Cyprus for the appeal.
Asked to comment on the political side of the case, Mr Power said he could not do so, noting that the 19-year-old's family and legal team are grateful to the British government and the Foreign Secretary, who had contacts with the Cypriot government and helped to advance the case.
To another question he answered that "we are not angry with the government of Cyprus but all we want is a fair trial and for justice to be done properly".
Asked whether the British can trust the Cypriot justice, the lawyer said that "this is a very difficult question. We hope that this case will be the catalyst for promoting reforms in the legal system of Cyprus, such as the recording of what is happening at the police station so that there is transparency ".