Bella Culley, a 19-year-old British citizen who is eight months pregnant and accused by Georgian officials of drug smuggling, was released from the Tbilisi City Court on November 3 after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors.
“Several reasons were taken into account: her health condition, her confession, her age, and her cooperation with the investigation,” Prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili told RFE/RL, noting the prosecutor’s office had put forward the initiative to release the British woman, who fully admitted her guilt, from custody.
The court found Culley guilty and sentenced her to five months and 24 days in prison, along with a fine of 500,000 laris ($181,800). Time served while in custody at Women’s Prison No. 5 in the city of Rustavi meant she could leave immediately, the court added.
As part of the penalty, the family agreed to pay the fine.
Marijuana And Hashish In Her Luggage
Culley was detained in Tbilisi in May after arriving from Thailand via Sharjah Airport in the United Arab Emirates. Georgian authorities found 12 kilograms of marijuana and 2 kilograms of hashish in her luggage.
The British teenager claimed she was forced to commit the crime “under pressure and torture.”
Culley’s parents reported their daughter missing to Thai police after failing to contact her for several days. Thai police also joined the search, while Bella’s father, Niel Culley, traveled to the southern Asia country to search for his daughter.
Her mother told RFE/RL that after she went missing in Thailand, her daughter was tortured and then forced to fly with the drugs to Georgia.
While Culley faced up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment, legal experts expected that the court would keep her in prison for another two years.
The decision to release her took Culley and her family by surprise, with her mother saying she learned of the release just minutes before the hearing, which was closely monitored by British and international media.
The prosecutor said that as part of the cooperation, Culley named several people involved in the drug case.
When leaving the courthouse, Culley said she was “relieved” over the decision.
“I’m happy, I didn’t expect it,” she said before turning to her mother to ask, “Can we go now?”
