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Trial within trial continues for British teen accused of falsely claiming gang rape

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A trial within a trial continued on Wednesday to determine whether investigators exercised psychological pressure to extract a confession from a British teenager accused of falsely claiming she was gang raped by 12 Israeli tourists in Cyprus in July.

The district court in Paralimni, where the 19-year-old is standing trial, will decide on Thursday whether to allow her psychologist from Britain to give testimony via a teleconference because she is too busy to fly over.

The teenager, who insists her retraction was extracted under duress, told the court on Wednesday that she goes to therapy because she suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder.

She explained that, for some reason, one of her horses was killed when she was a child and she believes she is responsible for it.

The trial within trial continues on Thursday with the prosecution taking a stand on the issue of testimony via a teleconference before the court’s decision is announced.

Police investigators denied the allegations that pressure, physical or psychological, was exerted on the teenager so that she would falsely confess.

On Tuesday, court proceedings opened with an unsuccessful request by prosecution lawyer Adamos Demosthenous to exhibit a DVD containing mobile phone footage.

This was recorded on the night of the complaint, showing the teen engaged in sexual activity.

The footage had been prepared onto a CD by Spiros Nikolaou, from the Nicosia police technology unit.

Initially, the teenager had alleged that 12 Israelis raped her on July 17 at a hotel in the resort of Ayia Napa, a magnet for younger tourists attracted by its beaches and nightlife.

The Israelis aged 15 to 18 were later released without charge after the woman was arrested on suspicion of “making a false statement about an imaginary crime”.

The Israelis have denied any allegation of assault and have since returned home.

If convicted the teenager could face up to one year in prison and a fine of around €1,700.

 

Read more:

https://in-cyprus.com/british-woman-who-claimed-she-was-gang-raped-launched-crowdfunding-to-cover-legal-fees/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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