Multiple bruises found on a young British woman who alleged she was gang-raped on holiday in Cyprus leave 'no doubt' that she had suffered a violent assault, according to a pathologist.
The student, who faces up to a year in jail after being found guilty of lying, insists she was held down and raped by up to 12 Israeli youths at a budget hotel in Ayia Napa.
Some 35 bruises found across the 19-year-old's legs, arms and buttocks are said to be consistent with her having suffered a violent sexual assault. Marks were also found around her knees and eyes.
They were seen in a diagram, compiled by a pathologist who saw photographs of the injuries, in a Cypriot court as she was tried for public mischief.
However, the evidence was dismissed by the judge whose handling of the case before her conviction last week has come under fire in an escalating diplomatic row.
...Pathologist Marios Matsakis, an expert witness for the woman's defence, told The Mail on Sunday: 'I have no doubts that violence was exercised on the body.' She added that the data from the diagram 'is related to rape'.
Photos of her upper body might have provided crucial evidence, as a central part of the girl's testimony was her claim that she was pinned down by her shoulders.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, says she retracted her statement about the alleged rape only after pressure from detectives following ten hours of questioning which was not recorded or conducted in front of a lawyer.
She then found herself in police custody and stranded on the Mediterranean island for five months charged with public mischief.
...Judge Papathanasiou has come under pressure for his courtroom behaviour, which Mr Matsakis described as unacceptable and 'like a primary school teacher shouting at students'.
During the woman's shambolic trial, he often yelled angrily at her and at others in court. In one bizarre instance, he reportedly shouted at the teenager for turning to her mother.
...One of the 12 Israeli youths accused of taking part in the gang-rape caused outrage yesterday by vowing to pursue the British teenager through the courts for compensation.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Yona Golub claimed the 19-year-old student had turned his life into a nightmare.
'We're preparing to sue her,' he declared. 'She deserves to go to jail.'
The woman, who is now facing up to a year in prison after a hearing last week, says she retracted her statement about the alleged rape after pressure from detectives following ten hours of questioning that was not recorded or conducted in front of a lawyer.
How terrible. Clearly no one in the system cares about the truth in this matter. I'm glad she did not get prison, but hope she does not get those lawsuits. Attempting to get justice for this issue has resulted in more trauma for her.