FIVE men accused of abducting and gang-raping a British tourist in Ayia Napa broke down in tears as their trial started today.
The suspects, all aged 19 or 20, after the “highly-distressed” woman, 20, told cops in Cyprus she was violently sexually attacked.
AFPA banner put up outside the Famagusta district court[/caption]
ReutersThe five suspects were brought before the court as their trial began[/caption]
She told police she was taken “by force” to a hotel room by at least five Israeli men on September 3.
The victim later bravely identified her alleged attackers and accomplices who are claimed to have tried to clean up blood with bed sheets.
On Thursday, five Arab-Israelis from a town near Acre were hauled before a three-member panel of judges in Famagusta district court.
The accused, who have been held in custody since the alleged attack, hugged relatives in the packed chambers.
Some of the suspects even wept as they were led into the courtroom.
Michael Polak, who heads the UK-based legal aid group Justice Abroad, told The Sun: “The young lady in this case is determined to make sure that justice is done.
“It was a horrifically violent incident and she wants to make sure that no one else suffers the same again.”
At a previous hearing in September, a prosecutor told the court she had enough evidence to jail the group for what was “a very serious crime.”
Meanwhile, the horror moment the Brit tourist was allegedly dragged into a hotel room is understood to have been caught on CCTV.
The five suspects have all denied rape and instead claim they had “consensual sex” with the woman.
Their defence team’s demand that DNA evidence be brought before the court was granted by judges on Thursday.
But a doctor who examined the victim is understood to have confirmed she was a virgin at the time of the vicious assault.
The prosecutor described in devastating detail how the woman was “taken by force” by one of the men from the pool area of an Ayia Napa hotel.
She was allegedly taken to a room where she was pinned down and raped.
The prosecutor said: “They pushed and pulled her by the hair, brought her to their room where she was forcibly undressed and pushed to the bed.
“Then three others came in. She tried to flee but one of them caught her.”
The Brit, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, not only reported the attack the same day but picked out and identified her assailants in a police lineup.
Cypriot police described the victim as being “highly distressed.”
Giving testimony to cops in Ayia Napa hours later, she claimed she had been “grabbed by the hand, pulled by the hair” and suddenly attacked following a pool party at the hotel.
The testimony, which the Sun has seen, is too graphic to publish.
After seeing blood in the room, the suspects let the tourist clamber free from a window in the second-floor room, the prosecutor told the court.
The Brit immediately ran to the reception where, crying uncontrollably, she related what had happened, it is alleged.
A security guard who rushed to the room claimed he found two men cleaning up.
The trial is set to continue on October 16 when DNA samples are expected to be presented before the court as evidence by the prosecution.
Lawyers hired by the suspects include Nir Yaslovitz who defended three of the 12 men and boys ultimately found guilty of raping an 18-year-old British student in Cyprus four years ago.
The woman, who spent over a month in jail, was accused of “fabricating” the incident and convicted of causing public mischief by the same court in Famagusta.
But the conviction was later overturned on appeal by the Mediterranean island’s supreme court.
AFPThe trial is due to continue on October 16[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
