A British woman cleared of lying about a gang rape in Cyprus is taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) because she is “determined to push for justice”, her lawyer told The Independent.
The 21-year-old university student is challenging a decision by Cypriot authorities not to order a fresh investigation into her alleged attack.
She spent four-and-a-half weeks in prison in 2019 after local police said she lied when alleging she was sexually assaulted by up to 12 young Israeli tourists in a hotel room in the party resort of Ayia Napa.
The Derbyshire woman, then 19, signed a retraction statement but has since maintained officers forced her to revoke the rape allegation. She was convicted by a Cypriot judge who found her guilty of public mischief after a trial at Famagusta district court in Paralimni.
Michael Polak, a British human rights lawyer and director of Justice Abroad, which is helping the woman’s family, said: “We wrote to the Cypriot attorney general to tell him to reinvestigate. He wrote back saying he wasn’t going to do so. The only remedy is to go to [the] ECHR.”
The woman’s conviction was overturned in January by the supreme court in Nicosia after her lawyers lodged an appeal.
“The supreme court said there was a misinterpretation of the evidence and huge investigatory failings in the case,” Mr Polak said.
Cypriot authorities should have launched a fresh investigation into her case after the ruling, he believes.
“This is something that has been done in other cases Justice Abroad has helped with,” Mr Polak said, adding that he was “surprised” by the refusal.
“They said the evidence tended to suggest the woman was telling the truth,” Mr Polak added. “She is determined to push for justice in the case. The ECHR could say Cyprus is in breach of obligations and they can order Cyprus to properly investigate the case. We are very confident in succeeding at the ECHR.”
The woman’s original allegation was revoked days after she made it. She was then arrested and charged with public mischief. 12 Israeli men aged between 15 and 22, who had been detained for questioning, were allowed to walk free.
She maintains she was forced by officers to sign a confession withdrawing the rape complaint and pressured into saying she had lied and also threatened with having her friends arrested.
After being in custody for more than six hours, she agreed to write a statement saying she had lied about the rape, she says.
Police in Cyprus have strongly denied all allegations of misconduct.
