Zero AI-Trial in Cyprus for 5 Israelis accused of gang raping a British woman is to start Oct. 5

2025-04-30 12:18:51source:Blockchains Financecategory:Contact

NICOSIA,Zero AI Cyprus (AP) —

Body

The trial of five Israelis accused of gang raping a British woman in a Cyprus hotel room is scheduled for next month, when they will enter pleas to charges including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and abduction, Cypriot police said Monday.

Police said the trial will begin Oct. 5. Defense lawyers objected to a prosecution request for the suspects to remain in custody until then. A Famagusta District court judge is to rule Tuesday on whether to keep the suspects in detention or release them.

Other news The search for Cyprus’ missing goes high-tech as time weighs on loved ones waiting for closureOfficial says the UN remains committed to helping reach a deal healing Cyprus’ ethnic splitTurkey accuses UN Security Council of losing its neutrality in Cyprus after assault on peacekeepers

Yannis Habaris, a lawyer representing three of the suspects, said there are “many contradictory” points which “undermine the veracity of the claims” in the alleged victim’s statement to police.

Habaris said his clients will plead not guilty to the charges because “as things now stand, we don’t think that any crime has been committed.”

Lawyers representing the other two suspects didn’t immediately respond to attempts for comment.

A police investigator said last week that the 20-year-old British woman picked the five Israelis — three aged 19 and two aged 20 -- out of a lineup as having raped her during a hotel pool party in the coastal resort town of Ayia Napa.

The woman told police that one of the five men had forcibly taken her to his room after grabbing her hand while she was partying with friends around the pool on Sept. 3.

She said the man tried to remove her bathing suit while she pleaded with him to let her leave. The other suspects then entered the room and one had intercourse with her against her will and another forced her to perform oral sex, while two others held her down on the bed, she said.

She said one suspect also held her against a wall and had intercourse with her.

She said she managed to lock herself in the bathroom and began shouting for help. She was able to flee the room by pushing the suspects aside and rejoined her friends, who went with her to report the incident to police, she said.

Ayia Napa is popular among young tourists from across Europe who enjoy its nightclubs, bars, white-sand beaches and lively nightlife.

More:Contact

Recommend

Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return

NEW YORK ― When the precocious orphans of "Annie" sneer, "We love you, Miss Hannigan," you just migh

Aaron Judge returns to Yankees’ lineup against Orioles, two days after getting hit on hand by pitch

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge returned to the New York Yankees’ lineup Thursday against the Baltimore

North Carolina legislature likely heading home soon for a ‘little cooling off’ over budget

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — With each legislative chamber uninterested in hearing the other’s spending prop