This archive report was first published on 7 January 2020.
Published on January 7, 2020, a Cypriot court convicted a 19-year-old British woman of falsely accusing 12 Israeli tourists of gang rape.
The court handed her a four-month suspended prison sentence, sparking protests in Britain and calls for tourists to boycott the island.
Lawyers for the woman claim the case was marred by investigatory and legal mistakes, including repeated refusals by the judge to consider whether she was raped.
Protesters, including dozens of Israelis, gathered outside the court to show their support for the teenager.
Shouts of "Cyprus justice, shame on you" and "Blaming the victim is a second rape!" echoed through the court despite police orders to close windows and blinds.
The woman's lawyers claim she was raped by 12 Israeli teenagers in a hotel room on July 17, 2019, and that she was questioned by police without a translator or lawyer present.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has expressed concerns about the case, saying he has "firmly and categorically registered" them with Cypriot officials.
The woman's legal team plans to appeal the conviction to the Supreme Court, citing a "gaping chasm in the treatment" of victims of sexual assault in Cyprus.
