Five Israeli men go on trial in Cyprus accused of gang-raping British woman after an Ayia Napa pool party as her lawyer says 20-year-old is ‘determined to see justice served’

• They are charged with rape and several sexual assault offences, and abduction

Five Israeli men accused of abducting and gang-raping a British woman after a pool party in Aiya Napa have gone on trial in Cyprus. 

The group, aged between 19 and 20 years old from the Israeli Arab town of Majd al-Krum, were brought before a three-member panel of judges at the city of Famagusta’s District Court.

The men were arrested after the British woman, 20, told police that they gang-raped her inside her hotel room in the tourist resort of Aiya Napa on September 3. 

Officers quickly rounded up the men who were on holiday in the party resort and they were subsequently charged with rape, sexual assault by penetration, sexual intercourse through violence, rape by compelling sexual penetration, indecent assault against a woman, sexual harassment, and abduction.

Now, their trial has begun after they entered not guilty pleas, with the alleged victim’s lawyer telling MailOnline that the Briton is willing to testify in court ‘to see justice served’. 

The police van carrying the five Israelis who are accused of raping a British woman, arrives at the Famagusta District Courthouse in Paralimni, Cyprus, for a previous hearing in September 

Relatives of Israeli men held for the alleged rape of a British woman stand outside the courthouse in Paralimni during an earlier hearing in October 

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, could take the stand in January ‘because she wants to prevent this from happening to someone else’, her lawyer Michael Pollak, from the London-based legal aid group Justice Abroad, told MailOnline. 

‘The victim will be giving evidence most likely in January 2024 because she wants to prevent this from happening to anyone else. She is committed to ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice,’ Mr Pollak said.

During the trial at Famagusta District Court on Monday, Mr Pollak said the defendant’s police interviews were read to the court. The trial is set to last until Thursday.

The case bears harrowing similarities to an incident in 2019 in which another female British holidaymaker claimed she was gang-raped by a group of Israeli men.

According to a leaked report, the alleged victim had bruises and injuries consistent with an attack and a statement from her was read out by the prosecutor which went into the horrific assault, and which is too graphic to publish.  

At pre-trial hearings, the court also heard several staff had witnessed the aftermath of the alleged attack and would testify – including how they saw the victim fleeing by climbing from a window on the second floor of the three-star Fedrania Gardens hotel. 

A forensic search of the room where the attack happened found traces of blood on the floor and on sheets on the bed.

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 September 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 raped her.

The group, all aged between 19 and 20, were held after the woman complained to police that she had been targeted following a pool party in Ayia Napa in September (file image)

The Cypriot and European flags fly in front of Famagusta district court in Paralimni, where five Israeli tourists are standing trial for the alleged gang-rape of a British woman

The 20-year-old said she managed to lock herself in the bathroom and began shouting for help. 

The Briton said 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.

At a previous hearing held in October, the five Israeli men had entered not guilty pleas to rape, sexual assault by penetration, sexual intercourse through violence, rape by compelling sexual penetration, indecent assault against a woman, sexual harassment, and abduction. 

They had appeared at the Famagusta courtroom that was  packed with their relatives who showed up to plead their innocence and show support. 

All five defendants had remained straight-faced during proceedings but could not contain their emotion as the hearing concluded. 

The families surged to embrace the defendants before they were taken away to return to their cells, with one of the men on trial bursting into tears as he hugged his mother.

The five defendants will now be held in custody while their trial continues.

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