Update 13 November 2019: Date Set for Expert Evidence of Forensic Linguist in Trial of British Teenager in Cyprus After Reporting Group Rape
JUSTICE ABROAD
“Here When You Need Us”
Date Set for Expert Evidence of Forensic Linguist in Trial of British Teenager in Cyprus After Reporting Group Rape
Justice Abroad is assisting the British teenager and her family in this matter. This case will continue at 11am on Friday 15 November 2019 at Famagusta District Court in Paralimni.
At this hearing the Court will hear from the defence expert Dr Andrea Nini of the University of Manchester. Dr Nini is a specialist forensic linguist and lecturer in Linguistics and English Language at
the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
He is a member of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and is listed on the UK’s National Crime Agency Expert Advisers database. His Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics thesis was on ‘Authorship Profiling in a Forensic Context’.
Dr Nini has applied a forensic linguistics approach to the retraction statement, which was signed by the teenager following an 8-hour ordeal in the Police Station without a lawyer and whilst suffering from PTSD, as stated by expert psychologist Dr Christine Tizzard at the previous hearing. Through this approach Dr Nini will address whether the evidence supports the fact 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 as submitted by the defence.
As well as hearing this expert evidence, the Court may hear closing submissions in the voire dire (trial within a trial), in which the defence will be submitting that because of the way the retraction statement was obtained it is unreliable and given under duress. It will be for the prosecution to prove, to the criminal standard (beyond reasonable doubt), that this is not so. It is unclear whether a decision on this argument will be made at this hearing or subsequently.
Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak has stated that ‘We are very fortunate to be able to present the evidence of Dr Nini, a leading forensic linguistics expert, who is engaged to conduct work for the National Crime Agency, and has received ESRC research grants for his work. We believe that Dr Nini’s work is instrumental in the case and look forward to his report going before the Court.’
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.
The compilation of expert evidence to put before the Court and 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.