Teenager in Cyprus Update Following Hearing of 19 August 2019 : Appointment of Legal Team

British Teen Faces Trial in the Republic of Cyprus After Reporting Group Rape

Justice Abroad is assisting the British teenager and her family in this matter.  The teenager is currently remanded in Nicosia Prison and is facing trial in Cyprus after reporting a gang rape in the town of Ayia Napa in the Republic of Cyprus.

This update follows the hearing in Farmagusta District Court on 19 August 2019. At this hearing the Court was made aware that along with Justice Abroad who are assisting the teenager and her family with the case, she will be represented by British Barrister Lewis Power QC and expert Cypriot lawyers Nicoletta Charalambidou and Ritsa Pekri.  The teenager will next appear in Court at 9am on Tuesday 27 August 2019 where she will be represented by this expert legal team.

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.

Mr Power QC commented that ‘this case is multi-faceted and is of the paramount importance in the context of the application of the Rule of Law and the European Convention on Human Rights in Cyprus as well as the protection of a British Citizen’s basic human rights whilst abroad. I relish the opportunity to work alongside Justice Abroad and two eminent Cypriot human rights lawyers.’

Ms Charalambidou has stated that ‘The confession is very worrying in this case given that the teenager was turned from a victim to a suspect of a criminal offence through flawed procedures which did not respect and properly safeguard her rights, in either capacity, in accordance with the law.’

Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak commented ‘we are very pleased to have put together this strong team of lawyers who will attempt to protect the teenager’s rights before the Cypriot Courts and European Courts if needs be. It is apparent that the procedures followed in this case have not accorded with Cypriot constitutional and statutory rights which are supposed to protect those questioned by the Police as well as European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence and European Union legal provisions protecting suspect’s rights.’ 

The family wishes to thanks those from the United Kingdom, Israel, and the rest of the world who have contributed to the Go Fund Me fundraising campaign to fund legal representation and assistance in what they consider to be a very important fight for the teenager’s rights and her future and are accepting further donations at www.gofundme.com/f/Help-Teen-Victim-Get-Justice-In-Cyprus

The previous statement in regard to how the teenager and her family assert that her rights under both the European Convention and Cypriot law have been breached is available at https://www.justiceabroad.co.uk/en/news/update

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.

Justice Abroad can be contacted on contact@justiceabroad.co.uk about the above matter or other similar situations and the media are asked not to contact the lawyers individually as this will reduced the time they have to attend to this important matter and other similar cases in which they are acting.