Parents of alleged Ayia Napa gang rape victim feel optimistic

[Devil]

You've been getting out of bed on the wrong side quite a lot recently. Is everything Ok?

Now that you ask (thank you), the answer is possibly no. However, I won't bore you with a long screed about three major problems plus GESY enrolment that have turned up, all at the same time, other than to say that being super-stressed at my age doesn't do me much good. My apologies if my latest posts appear even more irascible than usual Nevertheless, as a Devil, Please allow me a tad of extra leeway.

[WHL]

Just had to google 'irascible' to find out what it means, do us a favour Devil, can you use words , that thickos like me, can understand?

[J B]

With regards to server memory, the average image posted in about 150 - 200k in size. Have you any idea how much text would fit in 200k? Allowing for 2 byte unicode characters, you have 131,072 characters to play with. Julius Caesar, that most noble of Shakespearean plays, has under 20,000 words in it. It is safe to assume that the average number of letters per word in that epic is under 7. So it can be concluded that you can fit the entire text of Julius Caesar into the same server space as you would fit an average blog or forum picture.

Most interesting although way off topic
On another forum in a previous life I was lambasted for using the quote system as it took up bandwidth!

[Varky]

Just a quick question. When she was being questioned for the 7 hours ostensibly as a suspected criminal rather than a witness was she read her rights, or is that procedure not followed in Cyprus?

[Devil]

Just had to google 'irascible' to find out what it means, do us a favour Devil, can you use words , that thickos like me, can understand?

OK, now that you know the meaning, I can continue to be irascible: Grrrrr!

[Dominic]

You've been getting out of bed on the wrong side quite a lot recently. Is everything Ok?

Now that you ask (thank you), the answer is possibly no. However, I won't bore you with a long screed about three major problems plus GESY enrolment that have turned up, all at the same time, other than to say that being super-stressed at my age doesn't do me much good. My apologies if my latest posts appear even more irascible than usual Nevertheless, as a Devil, Please allow me a tad of extra leeway.

A devil does deserve an extra tad. Chin up, and all that.

[71 Trans Am]

Are you saying that the Mail possibly got it wrong ? Not like the Mail to publish fake news, Maybe they were just preparing the front page for tomorrow and someone let it slip early.

[The Aquila]

4 months in prison suspended for 3 years....

[Dominic]

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/01/07/susp ... laim-case/

[PhotoLady]

An appeal has been lodged against the conviction:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51144318

[Devil]

On appeal, she may get a longer, firm, prison sentence. The appeal will take into account only the charges of the prior trial and nothing added or new. Silly girl, she should thank her lucky stars she got away with a suspended sentence.

[WHL]

On appeal, she may get a longer, firm, prison sentence. The appeal will take into account only the charges of the prior trial and nothing added or new. Silly girl, she should thank her lucky stars she got away with a suspended sentence.

Unfortunately she is taking advice from many groups with their own agendas, be it womens rights groups, or bitter people who have an axe to grind about Cyprus. I Agree she should of counted her lucky stars, that she only got a suspended sentence. Not to mention the hundred odd grand sitting in her account given to her by funding groups.

[Kili01]

She is being advised by a well qualified legal team. The money which has been raised will go to pay her legal expenses. There is a lot of support for her internationally because of the way the legal system here has treated her. They plan to appeal to the Supreme Court and to the EHCR, if the later is necessary.

The sentence she received at the court hearing, even though it is a mild one of 4 mths with a 3 yr suspended sentence (if my memory is correct) is never the less very serious as it will impact her entire life as she intends to go to uni, and with a conviction many fields of prospective careers will be barred to her as will travel to countries like the USA. So in countries outside Cyprus her whole trial and the sentence have attracted a lot of unfavorable comments about the Cypriot justice system. Her supporters are not just British. There are even Israelis.
Please all the Barrack Room lawyers on this board who Show no mercy at least keep an an open mind. Dee

[galexinda]

On appeal, she may get a longer, firm, prison sentence. The appeal will take into account only the charges of the prior trial and nothing added or new. Silly girl, she should thank her lucky stars she got away with a suspended sentence.

Unfortunately she is taking advice from many groups with their own agendas, be it womens rights groups, or bitter people who have an axe to grind about Cyprus. I Agree she should of counted her lucky stars, that she only got a suspended sentence. Not to mention the hundred odd grand sitting in her account given to her by funding groups.

The problem with various groups getting involved is that they have their own agenda, which isn't necessarily going to always be in the girl's interests.

Does she really want to have to deal with this incident for the next few years?

[robf]

I have to say that I do find many of the views on here disturbing. However, they do reflect the misogynistic and ignorant views of many of the older generation males. The understanding by society of what constitutes rape, or indeed sexual assault is moving on apace, and it is not just the Cyprus police or Cypriot justice system that is being shown to be starkly out of step, but also the British system is nothing to be proud of, even for vulnerable children.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-m ... r-51093159

If she was drunk and did not, or could not positively consent to sex with the whole group, its rape. If she panicked and felt under pressure to comply, its rape, the list goes on and on. Instead male police officers and the judiciary have involved themselves in a glaring example of victim blaming and shaming.
She is a very brave girl to appeal, and I wish her every success.

[Steve - SJD]

The sentence she received at the court hearing, even though it is a mild one of 4 mths with a 3 yr suspended sentence (if my memory is correct) is never the less very serious as it will impact her entire life as she intends to go to uni, and with a conviction many fields of prospective careers will be barred to her as will travel to countries like the USA.

I completely understand that she wishes to clear her name - however what if, in trying to do so, she actually makes it worse for herself?

Please all the Barrack Room lawyers on this board who Show no mercy at least keep an an open mind.

Agreed that people should have an open mind - however how many have read why the court came to the decision it did? To look at it in balance then both sides need to be viewed so that people can come to a conclusion either way.

Cheers

Steve

[Devil]

If she was drunk and did not, or could not positively consent to sex with the whole group, its rape.

The court decreed that nobody has been accused of inflicting rape nor being raped. Judicially, rape never happened, therefore the subject cannot be evoked on appeal.

[robf]

Exactly

[Steve - SJD]

If she was drunk and did not, or could not positively consent to sex with the whole group, its rape.

The court decreed that nobody has been accused of inflicting rape nor being raped. Judicially, rape never happened, therefore the subject cannot be evoked on appeal.

No - as I understand it the court did not look at the issue of rape as that was not the case brought before it. It looked at whether false statements were given to the police and according to the court and the statements in evidence then they found that false statements had been given at least to part of what allegedly happened.

That does not mean that the rape did not happen and the judge made clear that the issue of the rape could be brought before the courts - though of course that would be separate to the appeal.

It's not the clear cut case that it is being portrayed as and in all honesty I have concerns over both sides.

Cheers

Steve

[71 Trans Am]

SKY News Latest

British teen found guilty of lying about gang rape appeals her conviction
Lawyers are accusing the judge of failing to give her a fair hearing, as he continuously shouted: "This is not a rape trial."
A British teenager who was found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus has launched an appeal against her conviction.
The 19-year-old woman had claimed she was assaulted by up to 12 Israeli tourists while on holiday in Ayia Napa last July - but was charged herself after signing a retraction statement.
Last week, a judge gave her a four-month jail term - suspended for three years - enabling her to fly home to Derbyshire.
The teenager maintains she was raped - and she has accused Cypriot police of pressuring her to change her story.
In the grounds for appeal against the public mischief conviction, submitted on Thursday to the Supreme Court of Cyprus, her lawyers claim that:
• Her retraction statement should not have been allowed as part of the trial as she had been detained for nearly seven hours without a lawyer and a translator when she gave it
• The statement should have been excluded from evidence as she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and a forensic linguist has said the words in the statement are "highly unlikely" to be hers
• The court's reliance on the retraction statement as evidence that she lied about being raped was against her right to a fair trial
• The judge did not give the teenager a fair hearing as he continuously shouted "this is not a rape trial, I don't want to hear evidence about rape" - and prevented her team from examining evidence which supported her account of being raped
• The court did not properly consider DNA evidence of three of the Israeli youths on a condom which also had her blood on it
• The court did not properly consider evidence from two English youths and the hotel doctor about the state of the teenager when they found her on the night of the incident
• The court failed to explain why all prosecution witnesses were found credible but it immediately discounted evidence from all defence witnesses
• It says the court did not hear from the Israeli youths so relied only on the teenager's testimony
• The court failed to take account of pathologist evidence which said her injuries supported her statement about being gang-raped.
Michael Polak from Justice Abroad, which is co-ordinating her appeal, said the grounds of appeal are "strong" and they hope proceedings will be fast so this does not hang over the teenager any longer.
He added: "When the trial proceedings are considered dispassionately, it is clear that the teenager did not receive a fair trial before the Famagusta District Court and that her unfair treatment, and the treatment of her representatives and witness was in clear contrast to the treatment the prosecution and its witness experienced