As the Israeli teens were released from police district headquarters in the town of Paralimni hours later, jubilant relatives were there to greet them with hugs and kisses. Some of the youths carried suitcases and got into waiting cars that drove them away.
Cypriot authorities arrested 12 Israeli teenagers on July 18 following the woman's report of being raped by a dozen individuals at a hotel in the popular tourist resort of Ayia Napa where she and the Israelis were staying.
Five were released on Thursday after investigators found no evidence implicating them.
Investigators told a Paralimni court during a custody hearing Friday that the British woman was in a relationship with one of the seven suspects and had sexual contact with several of the other six over several days, Habaris said earlier.
The 12 Israelis had come to Cyprus in three separate groups, some for a vacation before being inducted into the army, and didn't know each other, according to Nir Yaslovitzh, an Israeli lawyer representing three of the dozen suspects.
Cypriot police provided DNA samples to Israeli authorities to locate three other individuals as potential suspects, but that assistance is no longer necessary since the case collapsed, Habaris said.
- AP
