DNA evidence in Cyprus gang rape trial said thrown out over police procedures
Local report says evidence connected to 2 of 5 Israeli suspects not admissible, hearings will now be based on witness and victim testimonies
The DNA evidence for two of five Israeli suspects charged in Cyprus over the alleged September 2023 gang rape of a British woman was thrown out during a court hearing on Tuesday, according to a local report.
The Cyprus Mail reported that the trial will now be based on witness statements, including the victim’s testimony.
The DNA material was reportedly thrown out by the Famagusta criminal court because standard police processes were not followed when the evidence was collected.
The five, all aged 19-20 from the northern Israeli town of Majd al-Krum, have been held since September 4 after a 20-year-old British tourist told police she was taken “by force” from the pool area of a hotel during a party and then raped by several men in a room.
They were charged with crimes including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and abduction.
According to Israeli reports at the time, the woman was able to pick the suspects out from a lineup and tell investigators what each one of them had done during the alleged assault.
A sixth Israeli was also initially arrested, but was later released after police confirmed he was not in the room during the alleged assault.
The woman told police that on September 3, she struck up a conversation with one of the suspects by the pool at the Federania Gardens hotel in Ayia Napa. The man then pulled her by the arm to the room, and when inside, tried to remove her swimsuit, she claimed.
According to Walla, the woman said she resisted, but two more men appeared and the three suspects then raped her. The woman said she heard other people entering and leaving the room during the alleged assault, but was not sure how many there were in total.
The woman said she eventually managed to escape to the room’s bathroom, where she locked the door, got dressed and began screaming for help. The suspects told her to keep quiet but she emerged from the bathroom and fled the room, found her friends and told them what happened. They then called the police.
Officers who were called to the scene found the woman in a “distressed state,” but she was still able to direct them to the room in the hotel, the report said.
Investigators removed evidence from the room, including sheets, and examined both the woman and the suspects. DNA samples were also taken from both the woman and her alleged assailants. Leaked reports of the investigation said blood was found in the room and the woman had bruises and abrasions on her arms.
In a similar case in 2019, which made international headlines, a woman alleged that she was raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists, aged 15 to 22, in a hotel room in the seaside holiday resort of Ayia Napa. She was 18 at the time.
The Israeli teenagers and young men denied any wrongdoing and were eventually released from custody and allowed to return home. More recently, calls have grown for that case to be reopened.
Cyprus is a popular destination for Israeli tourists. Official figures from July 2023 showed they were the second largest group of visitors, accounting for 10.2 percent, or more than 46,400 arrivals, second only to the United Kingdom, which made up 34.8 percent of arrivals.
Agencies contributed to this report.
