Trial begins of five Israeli men accused of gang raping British woman in Cyprus

The suspects will remain in custody in a detention centre until their next court appearance.

The alleged attack follows a widely reported 2019 case in which an 18-year-old British woman said that she had been gang raped by 12 Israeli men, also in 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.

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.