Five Israeli men were acquitted on all charges on Monday in Cyprus court for the alleged rape of the band of a 20-year-old British woman.
The Famagusta Criminal Court cleared the five defendants on two accusations of rape, one issue for sexual abuse, one forced sexual contact, one sexual harassment and one abduction.
She told police that she had been sexually attacked and raped by five Israeli citizens in September 2023. Five defendants were Israeli men between the ages of 19 and 20 who came from Majd al -Krum.
The trial began in October 2023 at the Famagusta Criminal Court, right north of Ayia Napa, where the British woman reported the attack.
They denied all the accusations.
In its decision, the court stated that the testimony of the woman is not reliable, they have inconsistencies and weaknesses when referring to the identification of the people and the actions for which they are accused.
The panel of three judges specifies incorrect identification “not abnormal” in such circumstances, but ruled that its testimony has several contradictions.
The court ruled its statement, where she claims she was derived from a party of 100 people, it was not convincing, since a friend testified, seeing her just boarded a room with another person.
While laboratory tests show that the woman had consumed significant amounts of alcohol and was also under the influence of drugs (MDA and MDMA), the court ruled that it was not to the extent that deprives her of the ability to agree with sex – as she herself said only “slightly impaired” at that time.
The court also found that her claim that she was calling for help during the band's alleged rape was not convincing, as two people from the neighboring room said they had heard anything.
It stated that the woman had told a police officer that she had consensus sex with one person, but in the following statements changed him to two.
The judges said in their first statement that she reported that sexual acts had been committed by three persons against her while identifying five men in the room. In her subsequent statement, she reported five men to perform sexual acts.
The court also concluded that it could not be safely determined whether the abrasions found on the woman's body were not maintained earlier and could be the result of consensus contact.
Part of the process was held behind closed doors.