NICOSIA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- A 19-year-old British girl was convicted of making a false claim that she had been raped by a group of 12 Israeli youths and was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for three years, on Tuesday.
Her gang rape allegation on July 17, 2019, caused an international sensation and a guilty verdict against her issued by a court on Dec. 30, provoked a public rebuke by the British government and a campaign in the United Kingdom to boycott Cyprus as a tourist destination.
Judge Michalis Papanastasiou said in his reserved ruling that he took into account mitigating circumstances in deciding on a suspended sentence.
These, he said in a packed courtroom, included her clean police record, her mental health and her immaturity, her remorse and the fact that she had stayed in custody for a month, missing the current university academic year.
"All mitigating factors were taken into account," he said.
The team of lawyers who defended her said they were pleased with the fact that the jail sentence imposed on her was suspended, but warned that they would appeal the sentence at the Supreme Court.
One of her lawyers, Lewis Power, insisted after the sentencing that "she was the victim of a premeditated gang rape, and was also stripped of her dignity and human rights."
He added that the appeal would be intended to clear her name.
He said the girl would fly back to Britain later on Tuesday.
As the judge was reading his decision, a group of about 150 women, including about 50 who traveled to Cyprus from Israel, chanted slogans, including one that said "Judge, shame on you. Don't you have a daughter, too?" and "We believe you."
The latter chant was a reference to her claim made during her trial on a public mischief charge that the police had coerced her into retracting her original complaint and making an admission that she had consensual sex with some of the Israeli youths.
After retracting her complaint, the girl was charged with knowingly making a false allegation, for which the Cypriot criminal law provides of a sentence of up to one year in jail.
The judge said that this was a serious offence, noting that 12 individuals were briefly detained as a result of her accusation.
But he added that he decided to give the girl a second chance, taking into consideration all her personal circumstances.
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that he had "very serious concerns" about the treatment of the woman, and urged the Cypriot government to "do the right thing."
His remarks brought a rebuke from Cypriot Justice Minister Georgios Savvides, who said that Cyprus was a law-abiding country and its government could not and would not interfere in any way with the court's work.
