Three British men have appeared in court in Croatia charged with the gang rape of a local woman at a popular holiday resort.
Ami Arifi, 29, Gezhim Xhafa, 28, and Sohqib Shakibi, 24, appeared before an investigating judge on Thursday.
The men have all been remanded in custody pending further investigations into the incident which happened on Tuesday in the port of Split.
Police said the 28-year-old woman, who is local, was the victim of a planned attack and the men, who are all from London, face up to ten years in jail if convicted.
One of the suspects is said to have offered a bail of 30 thousand euros, but it was not accepted.
The suspects met the woman that same evening on Matejuška, the popular waterfront in Split and popular with tourists and locals.
She is said to have taken a ride on a motorbike with one of them, then accepted their invitation to go to their four star hotel room at around 5.30 in the morning.
According to local media, the first defendant insulted and swore at her, bit her lips and touched her private parts.
Three British men have appeared in court in Croatia charged with the gang rape of a local woman at a popular holiday resort
The court heard the alleged victim objected to this behaviour and said it hurt, but the first defendant continued to assault her.
He is alleged to have taken away the woman’s mobile phone and asked her to have sexual intercourse with the second defendant.
The victim, in fear, agreed and went to the room with the second defendant, it is alleged.
After that, the first defendant allegedly asked the victim to perform oral sex on the third defendant, the court heard.
According to the woman, he bit her and touched her all over her body. She says she resisted, but at one point managed to free herself and call her ex boyfriend who alerted police.
Officers came to the hotel and arrested one of the suspects in the room. The others were quickly found.
The court heard the drama in the hotel room lasted two hours. The suspects have all denied their guilt. They claim that everything happened without any coercion.
Two are originally from Kosovo, but have British citizenship as does the third.
