Almost five months later, the Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision on the appeal filed by the British lawyers to overturn her conviction for public harm after a false complaint. This is the British woman, who claimed that she was raped in an apartment complex in Ayia Napa by a group of young Israelis.
It is noted that the young woman had been convicted by the Famagusta District Court for public harm after a false complaint and was sentenced to four months suspended imprisonment.
According to the facts of the case, the 19-year-old British woman had reported to the police that she had been raped by twelve Israelis in an apartment complex in Ayia Napa on June 17, 2019. However, she was later charged when she withdrew her complaint about the rape.
The young woman seems to have had an affair with one of the Israelis, the 19-year-old football player Shimon Yusufov. In her complaint, she had mentioned that the 19-year-old was holding her down and she was raped by twelve people, while they were filming with his mobile phones.
Michael Pollack, director of the law firm Justice Abroad, told the DailyMail: "Monday's decision is very important, not only for the woman involved but also for the recognition of the provisions for a fair trial in the Cypriot courts. It was clear to all those attending the trial that the guilt had been decided before the trial began. "We hope that on Monday the Supreme Court will overturn the unjust sentence of the young woman."
If the conviction is not overturned, its legal team intends to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
At the September hearing, the 21-year-old Briton's legal team argued that the Court of First Instance should not accept the 19-year-old's written testimony as evidence, as investigators secured it, as the young woman was at the police station for seven hours without a lawyer. .
The leader of the group, Lewis Power, told DailyMail that the young woman was suffering from panic attacks, so due to the pressure she received, she withdrew her complaint of rape.
Her lawyers also claimed that the "rude" judge of the Famagusta district court did not give the British woman the opportunity for a "fair hearing" because she did not allow the defense lawyers to present evidence to support her allegations.
It should be noted that shortly before returning to the Cypriot courts, the British woman broke her silence and revealed how she lived the period after her conviction for public harm after a false complaint.
Speaking to MailOnline, she said that the conviction continues to poison her daily life, living in fear that she will be recognized. She added that the manifestations of her post-traumatic stress continue even when she goes out with her friends and someone talks about Cyprus or abroad.
Upon her return to Britain in 2020, she said she was trying to manage her situation, while it was very difficult for her to find a job. It is suspected that the employers searched the internet for her name, so they did not hire her.
"I may be anxious about even the simplest things, like what to eat or when I can't find anything or when the juice runs out," he told MailOnline. "I know that obviously it is not what worries me, it is the other bigger things, like now that the appeal to the courts is coming. "Everything is much more stressful now," he added.
Source: SigmaLive