A protest outside Downing Street in central London in support of the British woman (PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)A British woman is expected to find out if she has overturned her conviction for lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus next week, her lawyers have said.
The country’s Supreme Court is due to hand down its decision in Nicosia on Monday following an appeal hearing last September.
The woman, a university student from Derby, was 19 when she was given a suspended four-month jail term in 2020 by a Cypriot judge who found her guilty of public mischief following a trial at Famagusta District Court.
She told police she was attacked by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in the party town of Ayia Napa on July 17 2019, but was charged after signing a retraction statement 10 days later.
The woman has maintained she was pressured by officers to withdraw the allegation and has vowed to clear her name, having flown home from the island hours after being sentenced.
Her team of English and Cypriot lawyers took her appeal to the Supreme Court in Nicosia arguing the conviction is unsafe and should be set aside.
Michael Polak, a lawyer from the Justice Abroad organisation that is assisting her, said: “The decision on Monday is a very important one, not just for the woman involved but also for the recognition of fair trial provisions in Cypriot courts.
“It was clear to all watching the trial of our client that guilt had been decided before the trial had begun.
“Key provisions of both the common law and established European human rights law fair trial provisions were not applied and this formed the basis of the appeal we have brought before the Supreme Court.
“We hope that on Monday the Supreme Court will overturn the unjust conviction of our client.
“If not, we will bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights, who has already decided a number of the key arguments we have put forward including in a case involving the Republic of Cyprus.”
During last year’s appeal hearing, the woman’s lawyers said the retraction statement should never have been admitted into evidence because it was made by a vulnerable teenager who had spent almost seven hours in a police station without a lawyer.
The 12 Israeli men and boys, aged between 15 and 20 at the time, arrested over the incident denied any wrongdoing. They were freed and returned home.
