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Three British men have been charged with gang-raping a woman at their hotel in Croatia.
Ami Arifi, 30, Gezhim Xhafa, 29, and Sohqib Shakibi, 25, allegedly raped the 28-year-old local woman over a two hour period in their hotel room in Split on the morning of July 22 last year.
They are facing up to ten years in a Croatian prison after they were charged by the Split County State Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege the trio met the woman in Matejuska, a popular water front area in the city, before taking her to a well-known hotel at around 5:30am.
Arifi allegedly insulted and belittled her, bit her lips and touched her intimate body parts.
He is also accused of intermittently taking her mobile phone and asked her to have sexual intercourse with the second defendant.
The victim reportedly told police that she felt unable to refuse sexual relations because she was afraid her attackers would get even more violent.
Xhafa and Shakibi then allegedly engaged in sexual acts after wrongly believing that, because she did not physically resist, she consented.
The alleged assault is said to have continued for around two hours.
The woman managed to contact her former partner, who alerted police to the hotel.
Officers arrested one suspect at the scene and tracked down the other two at a separate location shortly afterwards.
All three men were held for a period at Bilice prison before being released after lodging bail of £26,000 each and promising to respond to court summons.
During their time in custody, one defendant suffered a broken jaw after an altercation with another inmate.
He was then transferred to a hospital in Split where he underwent surgery, before being returned to the prison.
Two of the defendants are reported to be of Kosovo origin.
If convicted under Croatian law, the men face prison sentences ranging from six months to 10 years. Court proceedings are ongoing
Ami Arifi, 30, Gezhim Xhafa, 29, and Sohqib Shakibi, 25, allegedly raped the 28-year-old local woman over a two hour period in their hotel room in Split on the morning of July 22 last year.
They are facing up to ten years in a Croatian prison after they were charged by the Split County State Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege the trio met the woman in Matejuska, a popular water front area in the city, before taking her to a well-known hotel at around 5:30am.
Arifi allegedly insulted and belittled her, bit her lips and touched her intimate body parts.
He is also accused of intermittently taking her mobile phone and asked her to have sexual intercourse with the second defendant.
The victim reportedly told police that she felt unable to refuse sexual relations because she was afraid her attackers would get even more violent.
Xhafa and Shakibi then allegedly engaged in sexual acts after wrongly believing that, because she did not physically resist, she consented.
The alleged assault is said to have continued for around two hours.
The woman managed to contact her former partner, who alerted police to the hotel.
Officers arrested one suspect at the scene and tracked down the other two at a separate location shortly afterwards.
All three men were held for a period at Bilice prison before being released after lodging bail of £26,000 each and promising to respond to court summons.
During their time in custody, one defendant suffered a broken jaw after an altercation with another inmate.
He was then transferred to a hospital in Split where he underwent surgery, before being returned to the prison.
Two of the defendants are reported to be of Kosovo origin.
If convicted under Croatian law, the men face prison sentences ranging from six months to 10 years. Court proceedings are ongoing
