PARALIMNI, Cyprus (AP) — A Cypriot court on Tuesday imposed a four-month suspended prison sentence on a 19-year-old Brit who was convicted of inventing that she had been raped by up to a dozen Israelis. The woman maintains that she was raped and that she suffered coescion to withdraw her statement. His lawyers indicated that he would appeal the sentence.
Judge Michalis Papathanasiou noted that while the charge of “public crime” is serious, he decided to give the woman a second chance because during the trial he admitted through his lawyers that he had made a mistake with the false rape allegation. He also cited other mitigating people, such as his youth, immaturity, lack of criminal record, personal circumstances, psychological status and the fact that he has already spent almost a month in detention during the six months of trial. The judge also said he had taken into account that the huge media attention that has sroomd the case in Britain and Israel harmed the woman, who had to paralyze her studies when she was going to start university in September. The Uk was also fined 140 euros ($156), and the judge told the defence lawyers that the sentence could be triggered if she commits another felony within three years. The charge of a public crime in Cyprus carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and fines of up to 1700 euros ($2000). The woman’s mother told the press that she was “very relieved to return home” after months of legal proceedings. Despite the suspended sentence, she noted that the defense would appeal the conviction to demand that she be erased from her record. The case aroused great interest in Britain and Israel when, after initial reports that the woman had suffered a group rape, she was accused of making up the accusations. The woman, who has not been identified, insisted that she was raped in a hotel room on the coast on 17 July and that 10 days later she was forced to sign a statement retracting the accusations during a police interrogation. The judge said the defendant had not told the truth and attempted to mislead the court with “evasive” statements in her testimony. The judge said the defendant acknowledged to investigators that she had lied because she was “embarrassed” after learning that some of the Israelis recorded her with her cell phones while having consened relations with her Israeli boyfriend. While the judge read the sentence, a group of protesters supporting women chanted slogans in court, such as “Stop blaming the victim” and “Shame on the justice of Cyprus.”
