Key witness fails to come forward in Ayia Napa rape trial in Cyprus
The suspected Israelis, ages 19-20 from Majd el-Khurum, have been detained since last September, and are charged with serious crimes including rape.
During a hearing for the Ayia Napa 2 case on Wednesday, the prosecutor informed the court that a friend of the British woman who was raped in Cyprus last year, and was to testify yesterday, refused to appear in court.
The case involves five Israelis aged 19-20 from the Arab village of Majd al-Krum, accused of gang raping a 20-year-old British woman in the Cypriot holiday resort last year.
The friend’s refusal to testify strengthens the claim that the suspects are not guilty, defense attorney Nir Yaslovitz said
Defense attorney believes case is closed
In 2019, in a similar case, 12 Israeli men and boys were accused of gang raping a British woman who later retracted her charges, though her own subsequent conviction for “causing a public mischief” was overturned by the Supreme Court of Cyprus.
“The prosecution built a case on shaky ground,” Yaslovitz said, and demanded “the acquittal of the accused whose entire sin lies in being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The five current suspects have been in detention since last September. Rape in Cyprus carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The trial began on October 5 last year, attended by many relatives of the accused, before a three-judge panel in the Famagusta District Court.
The British lawyer Michael Polk of the “Justice Abroad” organization, who represented the British woman who claimed she was raped in 2019, is also representing the British tourist in the current case.
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