British teen pleads not guilty over false rape report

A 19 year-old British woman has pleaded not guilty in a Cyprus court to a public mischief charge for making what prosecutors say was a false claim that she was raped by 12 Israelis at a holiday resort on the east Mediterranean island nation.

A judge set the start of the trial for Oct. 2 and released the woman on bail, finding it “proper and fair” to do so after she had spent nearly two months in police detention.

The woman surrendered her travel documents to police and must appear at a Nicosia police station three times weekly. She has also been placed on a stop list prohibiting her departure.

Her defense lawyers say investigators used “oppression” to make her retract the rape allegation, something that Cypriot authorities strongly deny.