Daily Mail - 30.07.2019

Page 30

Putin enemy ‘poisoned’ in prison

Accused: The handcuffed Briton outside court yesterday

From Inderdeep Bains

in Ayia Napa, Cyprus

youths who were accused of

gang-raping a 19-year-old Brit-

ish tourist yesterday threatened

to sue her for libel after she

appeared in court accused of

making false claims.

the 12 young men, aged 15 to 18,

were arrested on the holiday island

of Cyprus then freed and returned

to their homes in Israel when police

dropped the case.

the 19-year-old was charged with

‘public mischief ’ over the weekend and

appeared in court yesterday.

the woman is facing a massive back-

lash in Israel after accusing the group

of raping her in the party town of Ayia

Joy: Family celebrate as

suspect is freed in Cyprus

Sex attack claim

tourist in dock

as freed Israeli

teens celebrate

‘Today this

nightmare ends’

caused and for libel. I am walk-

ing in the street and people are

calling me a rapist. I don’t

know the girl.’

the woman, who the Daily

Mail is choosing not to name,

concealed her face with a black

hoodie as she was escorted in

handcuffs to a courthouse in

Paralimni. the Briton – dressed

in black leggings and trainers –

tapped her feet as she listened

to the brief proceedings

through an interpreter.

the courtroom was packed

with Israeli journalists for the

20-minute hearing which saw

her case postponed until today

as the woman’s lawyer was

away from the island.

Granting the one-day post-

ponement, the judge remanded

the woman in police custody

because she was said to pose a

risk of fleeing.

she was arrested on sunday

as the group of Israelis – who

were on holiday before starting

national service – were freed by

police. the youths had been

held after she claimed she had

been raped at a budget hotel

on July 17. she told police up

to a dozen men had held her

down before taking it in turns

to sexually assault her.

Five youths were released

last thursday after DNA test-

ing and the remaining seven

were freed on sunday when

the woman allegedly ‘changed

her story’.

It is believed the woman had

a holiday fling with one of the

teens before the allegations

were made.

A police source said that dur-

ing further questioning the

woman withdrew her first

statement and admitted she

had not been raped.

Local media reported that

the Briton said she filed a rape

report because she was ‘angry

and insulted’ that a number of

the Israelis allegedly recorded

a video of her having sex.

Doubts grew over the claims

in the light of contradictory

DNA evidence. It also emerged

one of the accused was in bed

with his girlfriend at the time

of the alleged attack.

the Israelis said they plan to

take civil action against the

woman.

Mr Golub, who was among

the first group of youths freed,

greeted his companions in the

second group at the airport in

tel Aviv on sunday.

he told reporters: ‘I was with

two friends who were arrested

and they straightaway arrested

me too.

‘I know my friends were in

the room but I wasn’t. the

truth is out. I told myself today

finally this nightmare ends.

‘I went through tough days. I

was happy to hear they were

being set free, I was going crazy

at home.’

WE’LL SUE BRIT WHO

BRANDED US RAPISTS

Detention: Alexei Navalny

RussIA’s most prominent Mail Foreign Service

opposition leader has been

poisoned by a chemical agent

while in prison, his lawyer

and doctor claim.

Alexei Navalny, who was jailed

for 30 days last week after call-

ing for anti-Kremlin protests,

was taken to hospital on sun-

day with facial swelling, eye

problems and a rash.

the authorities said he had

suffered a suspected allergic

reaction while at a detention

centre in Moscow – to which he

returned yesterday after being

discharged from hospital.

But a doctor said Mr Navalny,

43, had never suffered from

allergies before, and she would

be testing samples medical

teams had managed to obtain

from him to try to establish the

cause of his illness.

Dr Anastasia Vasilyeva said:

‘It was a toxic reaction to a

chemical, it was definitely some

chemical agent. It’s absurd to

call it an allergy.’

she added that she opposed

Mr Navalny’s discharge, saying:

‘he needs to be under close

medical supervision.’

Dr Vasilyeva also expressed

concerns the chemical agent

which caused the outbreak

could still be in his prison cell.

Mr Navalny’s lawyer olga

Mikhailova said the illness was

caused by poisoning by ‘some

kind of chemical substance’ but

its source had not been

established. she said he had

been given anti-inflammatory

steroids and that the swelling

had subsided.

Mr Navalny, a lawyer and anti-

corruption activist, has been

the Kremlin’s most formidable

foe since 2011, when he led a

wave of protests against presi-

dent Vladimir Putin. he has had

numerous stints in jail and has

been attacked several times.

saturday’s protest in Moscow

for which he had led calls was

the largest in a decade.

Nearly 1,400 were detained as

ordinary Russians took to the

streets alongside activists to

demonstrate over a decision to

exclude opposition candidates

from local elections in Moscow.

Napa. three youths admitted having

sex with her, insisting it was consen-

sual. the others all denied rape.

the group are said to have celebrated

their release after returning in Israel

with champagne, with some chanting of

their accuser ‘the Brit is a whore’.

yesterday one teenager, yona Golub,

said: ‘We will sue her for the anguish

Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN

and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD

DAY

ON THIS

July 30, 2019

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE

JULY 30, 1945

the prospect of sheer nylon stockings —

made from ‘super-nylon’ — that will last ten

years, or more, was dangled enticingly before

the women of the world today. they will

come in an age of ‘made-to-measure’

molecules on which science is about to enter,

u.s. physicist Dr George harrison told a

New york radio audience.

JULY 30, 1987

MRs thatcher and President Mitterrand of

France gave their formal seal of approval at

the elysee Palace yesterday to the eurotun-

nel project under the Channel. But not all

problems have been cleared. Workmen at

the French end near Calais unearthed three

massive British wartime bombs that had

been dropped on German batteries.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

LIsA KuDRoW, 56. the

American actress (right)

found fame playing Phoebe

Buffay in Friends, for which

she earned up to $1million

per episode. she was the

first of the cast to win an

emmy for her role in the sit-

com. Kudrow says she

‘never turns around’ if people call out

‘Phoebe’ in the street, and hates selfies, but

is happy to sign autographs.

teRRy o’NeILL, 81. the London-born

photographer, who found fame in the

sixties, said: ‘My reputation was bigger than

the Beatles’,’ when he was sent to shoot

them, aged 20. ex-husband of Faye

Dunaway, o’Neill turned down the chance

to photograph Marilyn Monroe because his

then girlfriend ‘told me Marilyn took all her

photographers to bed, so she wouldn’t let

me work with her’.

BORN ON THIS DAY

eMILy BRoNte (1818-48). the yorkshire-

born author, who made her name with her

only novel, Wuthering heights, died of tuber-

culosis aged 30, just a year after it was

published. In 2007, the book was voted the

greatest love story of all time in a poll.

heNRy MooRe (1898-

1986). the sculptor from

yorkshire said that inspira-

tion for the flowing lines in

his work (right) came

partly from the childhood

memory of rubbing his

mother’s hips when she

was suffering from sciatica.

Described as the man who

‘put modern sculpture on

the map’, Moore designed the first Bafta

awards, a figure of a seated woman, in 1948.

ON JULY 30...

IN 1966, england beat West Germany 4-2 to

win the World Cup at Wembley stadium.

IN 2011, Zara Phillips, the Queen’s oldest

granddaughter, married england rugby

player Mike tindall in edinburgh.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: tapenade (20th c)

A) a paste of capers, olives, anchovies

and lemon juice

B) a lively jig

C) a thrust, in fencing (Answer below)

PHRASE EXPLAINED

Wouldn’t harm a fly – used to describe some-

one very good natured who wouldn’t hurt

anyone; from the late 1700s, it alludes to the

fact that most people dislike flies enough to

kill them, but if someone was so non-violent,

they might take pity on it and let it live.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

HALf of all marriages end

in divorce — and then there

are the really unhappy ones

Joan Rivers, U.S. comedienne (1933-2014)

JOKE OF THE DAY

Why did Robin hood pull out of the archery

competition?

he found it an arrowing experience.

GUess The Definition answer: A.