British teenager facing jail for retracting claim of gang rape on holiday loses lawyer

19-year-old says she was forced to retract allegations by local police

A lawyer representing a 19-year-old British woman facing jail after submitting a report of gang rape which she later retracted has quit the case due to a “serious disagreement” with his client.

The young woman, who claims she was gang raped by 12 Israelis in the Cyprus party resort of Ayia Napa, says she was coerced into signing a confession revoking the criminal complaint.

The teen, who cannot be identified unless she is found culpable, has been remanded in prison in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia since being arrested and charged last week with “public mischief” – an offence that has a prison sentence of up to a year.

Justice Abroad, a legal aid group providing help to the teenager’s family, said she had not voluntarily recanted the rape allegation.

On Wednesday, Paralimni court judge Tonia Antoniou approved lawyer Andreas Pittadjis’s request to quit, and adjourned the case until 19 August to give the young woman time to find a new lawyer.

The judge ordered that she remain in police custody until her next court appearance. Her alleged assailants, who are aged 15 to 18, were released from custody and returned home to Israel after the retraction.

Mr Pittadjis said his choice to withdraw from the case was made after consulting with the woman and her family but chose not to disclose the nature of his disagreement.

“I do not wish any longer to represent the defendant as I disagree with the line of defence,” he said after the hearing.

“Once there is a disagreement [lawyers] have an obligation towards the court, themselves and their clients to resign.”

He was not aware if the woman had appointed a new lawyer, he said.

Mr Pittadjis said his decision to quit should not be linked to how the woman would plead.

“Please do not interpret my resignation as whether she had to plead guilty or not guilty or anything, as this will be prejudicial to her defence and unfair to her as well,” he said.

Mr Pittadjis last week asked for the case to be adjourned so he could gather evidence, including a video that had gone viral purporting to show several men having sex with the woman. The lawyer said the dissemination of the footage on the internet was “a much more serious offence than what my client faces”.

Lawyers representing the Israelis said they would sue the woman for damages on behalf of their clients. The young woman had been due to attend a plea hearing on Wednesday in the town of Paralimni.

Michael Polak, a British barrister who works for Justice Abroad, said she had been refused legal representation in spite of requests and in contravention of the European convention on human rights. He claimed none of the proceedings carried out by Cypriot police were recorded.

“What in fact occurred was that the teenager was taken to the police station [where] she was asked to provide a further statement in regard to the rape allegations,” Mr Polak said in a statement.

“After providing a further written statement, the police officer told her that he believed that she was lying about the allegations and that he wanted to help her. He told her to write a confession and that if she did not do so he would arrest her friends in Cyprus for conspiracy.”

Mr Polak said the apparent confession was then dictated to her and investigators made clear that she would be arrested if she refused to sign it but could go back to her hotel if she complied.

The barrister said: “Further pressure was placed upon her to write the confession despite her stating that she did not want to. The confession was obtained under oppression given the threats made, that she was not cautioned, and that she was not given access to a lawyer as was her right under the Cypriot constitution and European convention on human rights”.

He claimed the teenager had sent text messages to friends saying police were stopping her from contacting anyone else before being formally charged at 2.30am local time after eight hours of questioning.

Mr Polak said: “[She] was not told that she could leave the police station nor given the option of leaving at any point”.

A Cypriot law enforcement official denied the allegation – claiming the teenager voluntarily admitted in writing to falsely accusing the Israelis.

“This is not true. The statement was taken legally. Obviously, they will present their position in court and have the right to do so,” a Cypriot police official told The Daily Telegraph.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting a British woman and her family following her arrest in Cyprus, and are in touch with local authorities.”