International media on Thursday focused on a case before Famagusta Assize Court which 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.
The Court adjourned the trial of the five young Israelis charged with raping a British woman in a hotel room at the resort of Ayia Napa on August 3 pending the submission of material evidence by prosecutors.
The five Israeli youths, aged 19 and 20, have been in custody since then and they all five face six counts each of abduction, assault and rape.
The trial, scheduled to start on Thursday, was adjourned because key evidence was not presented to lawyers of the accused. Because that information was lacking, the five did not enter a plea.
That included a DNA report, photographic material, fingerprint reports and a statement from a sixth individual, one of the lawyers for the accused said.
Relatives of the defendants crowded into the small courtroom in the town of Paralimni where the Criminal Court was in session.
Women’s advocacy groups are closely following the case due to the treatment of a British rape victim three years ago.
Last year, the holiday island’s Supreme Court acquitted a British woman who had been wrongfully convicted by a lower court of lying about being gang raped by 12 Israeli men in July, 2019.
