Decision of Judge in Voire Dire in Trial of British Teenager in Cyprus After Reporting Group Rape

JUSTICE ABROAD

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Decision of Judge in Voire Dire in Trial of British Teenager in Cyprus After Reporting Group Rape

Justice Abroad is assisting the British teenager and her family in this matter.  The case continued today, Thursday 28 November 2019, at Famagusta District Court in Paralimni where the Judge made a decision on the voire dire, trial within a trial, whereby the defence were challenging the admissibility of the retraction statement given by the teenager after her 8 hour ordeal in the Police station without a lawyer, under immense pressure and suffering from PTSD.

The teenager is represented by an expert legal team assembled by Justice Abroad comprising of Lewis Power QC, a top barrister from Church Court Chambers at the English Bar of the senior rank of Queen’s Counsel, Cypriot lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou, an experienced human rights advocate, and Ritsa Pekri, a criminal law expert.

During the trial and voire dire so far, the Court has heard evidence:

·       from Officer Nicolletis that he ‘never suspected she was not telling the truth and always treated her as a victim’ and that ‘he had no reason to question what she was saying’;

·       that the video concerning 17 July 2019, the date of the rape, shows the teenager with one suspect and that other persons were trying to enter the room, and the teenager tells them to get out;

·       that the teenager was told to go with the Police at around 5.30pm on the evening of 27 July 2019 by the female Police Officer with whom she had a good relationship and was told that this female Officer was unavailable that day;

·       that she thought that this would be a quick journey to the police station at Ayia Napa after which she would be home to have dinner with her mother, however she was taken to Paralimni Police station in a car with locked doors and that when she arrived there she was not allowed to leave;

·       that the teenager was subject to an ordeal of over 8 hours in which she was subject to quick-fire questioning and aggressive behaviour from Officer Christou, denied  access to a lawyer (contrary to European and Cypriot law), subject to threats that the Police would arrest her friends using international arrest warrants, and she was told that if she did not agree to retract her statement she would next see her mother when she appeared in court in handcuffs;

·       that the teenager had sent contemporaneous messages to her mother and friends stating that she had been denied a lawyer when she asked, with the text reading that she was told that she ‘may be entitled in UK but not in Cyprus’ and also that they had forced her to sign ‘false statements’ and made threats against her and her friends;

·       That the teenager feared for her safety because of the behaviour of the Officer and vividly described having a panic attack during the interrogation. She also gave evidence about her PTSD, and that a male coming within a few metres of her at that time would cause her to feel threatened. Notably, considering the evidence of the psychologists about the effects of PTSD, the teenager described trying to leave the Police Station by trying to run out but that she couldn’t get out as the doors were locked;

·       That the teenager stated that ‘They [the Police] made me make the retraction statement’ and that the words and grammar of this statement were not freely drafted by someone who is a native English speaker;

·       That the teenager when asked if she was telling the truth about being raped responded, ‘I was raped’;

·       That the teenager’s friend, a psychology graduate form Leeds University, was worried when she received the group messages from the teenager and that when Detective Marios Christou took her statement previously he had added false prejudicial information about the amount the teenager and her friends had had to drink on the day of the rape which she had edited out;

·       from Dr Christine Tizzard, a Chartered Psychologist and expert in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with over 20 years clinical experience who exhibited a report in which she confirmed that the teenager suffers from a severe form of PTSD. Dr Tizzard explained that PTSD is a neuropsychological disorder, caused by extreme trauma or exposure to trauma, which sets up a response in the amygdala, part of the brain, causing large amounts of adrenaline and cortisol to be made by the system. Dr Tizzard also stated in evidence that PTSD sets up a fight or flight response to stress which causes the person to be extremely wired and manic and to do anything possible to escape a difficult situation and that they do not have access to full rational thoughts because of the hyperarousal at these times. Dr Tizzard also explained that because of the teenager’s fragile mental state, in terms of the PTSD as described above, there is a very grave risk that she would provide evidence or accounts of herself that are not consistent in order to escape a situation that her cognitive system finds overwhelming and that given the teenager’s ‘mental health issues at the time of the retraction statement, as set out in the report, she would have been more likely, than someone not suffering from this mental health condition (PTSD), to agree to retract an allegation… in order to escape the feelings of acute hyperarousal which would be terrifying for her and would cause serious mental and physical symptoms.’  Dr Tizzard also confirmed that the teenager is having flashbacks and nightmares in regard to rape which was causing acute hyperarousal; and

·       from Dr Andrea Nini a specialist forensic linguist and lecturer in Linguistics and English Language at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Dr Nini who is a member of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and is listed on the UK’s National Crime Agency Expert Advisers database had examined the retraction statement applying the methodology of Corpus Linguistics which focusses on the scientific study of language through the analysis of large collections of naturally occurring texts, the corpus, using computational methods. Through this approach Dr Nini addressed whether the evidence supports the hypothesis that the disputed paragraph was composed by the teenager in her own words as alleged by the investigating Police Officer, or was dictated to her by someone who spoke English as a second language, the investigating Officer, as submitted by the defence. He came to the conclusion that the linguistic evidence suggests that it was highly likely that the disputed paragraph was not composed by the teenager.

After hearing the above evidence, at the last hearing the Judge was presented with detailed oral and written submissions in which the defence submitted that because of the way the retraction statement was obtained without the teenager having the assistance of a lawyer, whilst suffering from PTSD, and under immense pressure from the investigating Officer, it was unreliable and given under duress.  The defence relied on both Cypriot and international legal provisions including the case of Panovits v Cyprus decided by the European Court of Human Rights against the Republic of Cyprus.  

Despite all this evidence about how the retraction statement came about the Judge today ruled that the retraction statement was admissible (the test being beyond reasonable doubt and the burden being upon the prosecution to prove it)

Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak stated the following ‘We are obviously very disappointed and surprised by this decision. The defence team has worked very hard to put together a strong challenge to the retraction statement including using some of the top experts in their fields. It is difficult to understand how the Judge was able to dismiss all of the evidence that was brought before the Court and find that the retraction statement had been proven to be reliable beyond reasonable doubt.

It is also surprising that a number of times during the case so far, the Judge has interjected saying this is not about the rape case, and he has limited examination of evidence which goes to whether a rape took place. We are concerned with this approach because the obvious point remains, if a rape took place then the teenager is not lying, and she is not guilty of the public mischief with which she is charged.  The teenager’s position remains that she was raped, and we continue to submit that the evidence goes to show this.

The continued fight to obtain justice for the teenager in these protracted proceedings requires further funding. The teenagers family continue to raise funds by the Go Fund Me page www.gofundme.com/f/Help-Teen-Victim-Get-Justice-In-Cyprus The family wishes to thank all those from the United Kingdom, Israel, and the rest of the world who have contributed to the fundraising campaign at what is a difficult and unexpected time for them and in what they consider to be a very important fight for the teenager’s rights and her future.

Notes to Editors

Justice Abroad, www.justiceabroad.co.uk  has been set up to help those trying to find their way through foreign justice systems with all the associated hurdles that presents. To help such families with these dilemmas and many more, three experts, Michael Polak, a barrister with an international practice focussed on the assistance of foreign nationals in trouble around the world, David Swindle ,  a former Detective Superintendent who has worked on hundreds of murders and complex high profile investigations in the UK and abroad during his 34 years in the police, and David Walters MVO, a former British Diplomat with over thirty years’ experience having served in over a dozen countries around the world, have pooled their extensive experience.  Justice Abroad is endeavouring to ensure that their client experiences a fair, transparent, and unbiased trial process in Cyprus.

Lewis Power QC is a barrister who was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1990 and achieved the senior rank of Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 2011. He has a strong reputation for fighting difficult cases at trial and advising and advocating in matters with international and cross-jurisdictional elements.

Nicoletta Charalambidou is human rights lawyer with an expertise on European Union law and with a particular interest in victims and suspects rights in criminal procedures and discrimination in the administration of justice. She is also a member to the Legal Experts Advisory Panel of Fair Trials. 

Ritsa Pekri is a civil and criminal law lawyer working with Nicoletta Charalambidou LLC with strong experience in criminal cases and those matters involving human rights related issues.

Justice Abroad is also cooperating with KISA - Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism which is a national NGO active in the field of antidiscrimination and antiracism, including discrimination in the administration of justice and a human rights violations watchdog working in the field of victim and suspects rights under EU law.