Three Israelis admit sex with 19-year-old in Cyprus, nine deny allegations

Father said he only heard about it from the media; The court in Cyprus extended the Israelis' arrest by eight days by police request.

By ALON EINHORN
Prison (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Prison
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Twelve Israelis suspected of allegedly raping a 19-year-old British tourist on Tuesday night at an Ayia Napa hotel, have filed a claim that they were beaten by police forces and a group of British youth, one of whom reportedly encouraged the victim to file the complaint to the police.
Currently, three of the 12 Israelis under arrest have admitted to having had sexual relations with the woman with her consent, while the other nine have denied any contact with her.
The investigation is being handled by the Famagusta Police, which was able to find forensic evidence linking the youths to the scene of the alleged crime, Channel 12 reported. All of the Israelis were arrested at the hotel on Wednesday morning.  
The court in Cyprus extended their arrest for eight more days by police request. 
A father of one of the suspects claimed in an interview with an Israeli radio station that he heard of his son's arrest only through the media.
"We heard it from the news; we got calls from Channel 12 asking if we know that our son is under arrest and we were shocked,” he said. “The Foreign Affairs Ministry did not update or reach to us; it was only after I saw it on the news that I called the ministry and they confirmed my son was among those arrested and told me we'll keep in touch.”
"The police hit us, they broke our noses, and the girl is lying,” the Israeli suspects said through their lawyer on Thursday. “Help us, get us out of here, you'll see we're right and that we're innocent." 
The girl told the police that she met one of the Israelis and went to a hotel room with him, and then suddenly, 11 more showed up. She also claimed that they laughed and documented the rape scene with their phones, while some of them committed the act itself. She said she was screaming during the process, according to a report by Walla News.