Israelis arrested over alleged gang rape of British woman in Cyprus

The alleged attack follows a widely reported 2019 case in which an 18-year-old British woman reported that she had been gang raped by 12 Israeli men in the popular party town of Ayia Napa.

The alleged assailants, aged between 15 and 22, were arrested and questioned by police but subsequently released without charge and received a controversial welcome in Israel.

Cyprus court

Supporters of the woman at the centre of the allegations respond to her conviction being overturned at a court in Cyprus (via Twitter)

The victim, a university student from Derby, was then charged with making her story up after signing a statement retracting the allegations 10 days later which she alleged was the result of police pressure.

She was convicted of public mischief and received a four-month suspended sentence, meaning she spent five weeks in prison and almost six months unable to leave Cyprus.

In 2022, following widespread outrage, her conviction was overturned by the island's Supreme Court.