Cyprus court drops all rape charges against 5 Israelis after doubting British woman’s credibility

A criminal court in Cyprus has dropped all charges against five Israelis accused of gang-raping a British woman in a hotel room after ruling her testimony as not credible and replete with “fundamental contradictions.”

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A criminal court in Cyprus has dropped all charges against five Israelis accused of gang-raping a British woman in a hotel room after ruling her testimony as not credible and replete with “fundamental contradictions.”

According to a Cyprus News Agency report issued late Monday that cited a criminal court announcement, the court found during closed-door proceedings that most of the contradictions in the woman’s testimony concerned the identification of the perpetrators.

The court said the woman’s initial statement to investigators following the Sept. 3, 2023, alleged rape presented a number of “weaknesses,” which under the circumstances weren’t “out of the ordinary.”

But investigators’ doubts regarding the woman’s credibility grew when she offered “entirely incomprehensible and inconsistent” explanations regarding the contradictions in her testimony, specifically regarding the identification of the perpetrators which also included a line-up.

The court said the woman — who was 20 at the time of the alleged rape — was under the influence of a “significant” amount of alcohol and the hallucinogens MDA and MDMA, popularly known as “Sally” and “Molly.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/cyprus-court-drops-rape-charges-5-israelis-rcna199011

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