8:00 a.m. this morning the small
Cumberland district court in Cyprus
overwhelmed with protesters who flown in
to support a British woman in court
today the 19 year old supported by her
mum she's already spent a month in
prison and hopes today she won't have to
go back it all started in July when she
reported being raped by as many as 12
Israeli men while on a working holiday
in iron upper but she ended up in court
herself and was found guilty of public
mischiefs after retracting her
accusations she says the police
pressured her into doing it it's a case
that split public opinion but United
women's rights movements across the
world I think it's terrible that she's
the one being put on trial well they're
free in Israel the protesters were
blocked from coming into the tiny Court
so as the sentencing begins they gather
around the open window of the courtroom
chanting their indignation directly to
the powers they say have failed the
woman adding to the pressure
after weeks of diplomatic wrangling and
scathing reports about the Cypriot
justice system 60 people travelled from
Israel to protest against the teenagers
treatment this conviction today the
conviction that happens already and now
the sentence is shameful it's a disgrace
and it's there is a huge support for her
in the feminist circles in Israel and
they're huge but also a lot of people in
Israel and especially the media
they side with the boys they side with
our people and I can tell for sure they
are not our people they are not my
brothers or sisters
the British teenager was given a
suspended four month prison sentence
which her team says they'll appeal there
was anger that soon after the 12
Israelis were released from custody in
July they were greeted with champagne at
the airport the lawyer for the Israeli
men says justice has been served today
and his clients are innocent we respect
the court's decision what was important
to us was that the woman would be
convicted and the version told by the
clients I represented would be accepted
the version that my clients told was
entirely accepted and I will oppose any
request for a pardon that will be
submitted by the woman's lawyers until
she expresses full and honest remorse
for the nefarious acts she committed in
July last year the streets in lyon atha
would have been heaving at night it was
meant to be the summer of a lifetime for
the 19 year old before she started
University since then the season has
ended but until today she's been unable
to leave the island and so lost her
place at University but lawyers say
she's faced the double injustice of not
having her rape claims heard in court
but facing prosecution herself it's
lifted the veil of what women say they
face for years from both the police and
the judiciary here are you surprised
about everything that has happened in
this case we are not surprised actually
because a Cypriot women this is the
reason we have recently formed the
network against violence against women
because we are facing a lot of cases is
not been handled in a proper way and
with respect and protecting the victim
although the 19 year old at the center
of this case is now going home there's
still a long road ahead her barrister
says she needs urgent support for her
PTSD it's been very traumatic for her
she's had a very very difficult time of
course she's had the support of her
friends she's going to have medical
intervention when she goes back home and
her present intention is that once she
settles down back home that she wants to
attend University and she wants to get
on with her life before they left to
return to the UK the teenagers mothers
came out to thank the crowds for their
support
if Cyprus hoped the focus on the island
would go away when the rape case was
dropped it's done anything but we'll
enjoy now from Nicosia by Susana Pablo
director of the Mediterranean Institute
of gender studies Susana probably the
sentence was a lot lighter than her
supporters feared at one point if she
right do you think to continue to
challenge this verdict well I think
absolutely she's right to continue to
challenge this verdict as we have been
saying from day one this case should
never have been prosecuted it never
should have gotten as far as this there
are serious questions around the police
investigation of the case how the legal
system handled this case it's clearly
fallen well below international human
rights standards and what this case is
highlighted are the systemic flaws in
how the police and the criminal justice
system handle cases of violence against
women in Cyprus what would do women in
Cyprus face a much tougher battle to get
justice in these kind of cases do you in
your view what's the evidence for that
well we do know that for example as
there were 61 cases of rape reported to
the police in 2018 now unfortunately we
don't have data we don't have a system
in Cyprus where we can track the the we
can track cases in the same way that can
be done for example in the UK but I
think that the systemic flaws that we
have in Cyprus and the Justice gap that
we have in terms of violence against
women and sexual violence and raping
particular are similar to those Justice
gaps that exist elsewhere in Europe so
it's know what we need to look like in
this particular or your view is it III I
don't think I mean we have reports from
the UK that only you know 1.4 percent of
reported cases end up in a conviction so
I think that the justice gap in
particular for for cases of sexual
violence and rape exist across Europe
however this case has highlighted
systemic flaws in how police handle
cases in Cyprus and I would say in
particular whether the rights of the
victim were upheld from day one and what
I mean is from the moment that she made
contact with the police and reported the
rape so we understand that
I mean why just worried sorry we don't
have much time left I'm afraid but what
needs to change and is there any sign
that this case is changing attitudes and
might in future change police attitudes
for example what would we what would we
like what we would like to see is a full
review of police protocols and
procedures around sexual violence and
rape claims we feel that they fall short
as I said before of international
standards and particularly the Istanbul
convention and the victims rights
directive which foresee a number of
rights for people that claim violent
crimes and report violent crimes we feel
that these rights were not upheld in
this case and we would like to see a
full review of police protocols and
procedures around crimes related to
gender-based violence