Five Israelis acquitted of raping British tourist in Cyprus — lawyer

31 March 2025, 4:38 pm

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File - The police van carrying the five Israelis who are accused of raping a British woman, arrives at the Famagusta District Courthouse in Paralimni, Cyprus, on September 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A Cyprus court acquits five Israelis who were accused of raping a British tourist in 2023, an attorney for the defendants tells Hebrew media.

“The court has accepted our claims that the accuser was unreliable, no appeal will be filed by the state,” Attorney Nir Yaslovitzh tells Channel 12.

“It is a brave decision that completely rejected the complainant’s version and completely accepted the clients’ version,” he tells Ynet.

The district court ordered the release of the five, who have been in custody ever since their arrest at the time, although the full court decision was not immediately reported.

The five, all aged 19-20 from the northern Israeli town of Majd al-Krum, were arrested 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.

“I can’t describe how I feel,” one of the defendants tells Ynet. “I was a year and a half in prison, but now they let me out — I forget it all. I want to go home to Israel, and I am a happy man.”