6 hours ago
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BBC
Cypriot authorities mishandled their investigation into the case of a British woman who was found guilty of allegedly lying about a gang rape attack before her conviction was overturned, the European Court of Human Rights has concluded.
The woman, then 19, told Cypriot police she had been raped in Ayia Napa in July 2019 but retracted the allegation after being held without a lawyer.
The Court found "the Cypriot authorities failed in their obligation to effectively investigate the applicant's complaint of rape and to adopt a victim‑sensitive approach when doing so".
It awarded the Derbyshire woman €20,000 in damages and €5,000 in costs.
The woman originally told police she had been raped by 12 Israeli men and boys
After the retraction she was tried and convicted of causing public mischief and given a suspended four month sentence.
This was overturned at the Supreme Court in Cyprus in 2022 on the grounds the original conviction for public mischief was unsafe.
The case outraged women's rights campaigners who felt the woman had been treated like the accused rather than a victim.
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