Five Israeli men were fully acquitted Monday by a Cyprus court on charges related to the alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old British woman.
The Famagusta criminal court cleared the defendants of all counts, including two charges of rape, one count of sexual abuse, one count of forced sexual intercourse, one count of sexual harassment, and one count of abduction.
The British woman had reported to police that she was sexually assaulted and raped by five Israeli nationals in September 2023. The accused were Israeli men between 19 and 20 years old from the town of Majd al-Krum.
The trial began in October 2023 at the Famagusta criminal court, located just north of Ayia Napa, where the alleged attack was reported to have occurred.
All five defendants denied the charges against them.
In its ruling, the court determined that the woman’s testimony lacked credibility and contained inconsistencies and weaknesses regarding the identification of individuals and their alleged actions.
The three-judge panel noted that while misidentification was “not abnormal” in such circumstances, her testimony contained several contradictions.
The court found her claim of being dragged from a party of 100 people unconvincing, as a friend testified to seeing her voluntarily go upstairs to a room with another person.
Although laboratory tests showed the woman had consumed significant amounts of alcohol and was under the influence of narcotics (MDA and MDMA), the court ruled this was not to a degree that would have prevented her ability to consent to sexual activity—noting she stated she felt only “slightly dizzy” at the time.
The judges also found her claim that she shouted for help during the alleged gang rape unconvincing, as two individuals in an adjacent room testified they heard nothing.
The court highlighted that the woman initially told a police officer she had non-consensual sex with one person but later changed her statement to indicate two people. In her first statement, she reported sexual acts carried out by three individuals while identifying five men in the room. In subsequent statements, she accused all five men of carrying out sexual acts.
Additionally, the court concluded it could not be safely determined whether the abrasions found on the woman’s body were not sustained earlier and may have resulted from consensual intercourse.
A portion of the trial proceedings was conducted behind closed doors.
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