7 hours ago
10
The British teenager Bella May Culley, who was arrested in Georgia on drug-smuggling charges earlier this year, will be released from prison on Monday, case prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili told the AP news agency.
Culley, 19, who is pregnant, was arrested in May at Tbilisi airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg (26.5lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish into the country.
The verdict in her case is yet to be confirmed and is expected to be announced in court later on Monday. Georgian prosecutors were considering a two-year sentence, but “decided to consider the time she has already served”, Tsalughelashvili told the AP.
Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said the teenager would be given her passport and would free to leave the country on Monday. Culley initially faced a maximum penalty of up to 15 years or life imprisonment, but was in discussion with prosecutors about a potential plea bargain.
In Georgia, a 3.7-million nation in the south Caucasus, the law allows for financial plea agreements that can be reached to reduce or eliminate a prison sentence in certain cases.
Such plea agreements are often reached in drug-related cases. Culley’s mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters that the family has paid 500,000 lari (about £137,000) as part of the plea bargain.
Culley, who is from Teesside, in north-east England, was reported missing in Thailand before her arrest at Tbilisi airport on 10 May. The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges after her arrest, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs. Salakaia has told reporters that she showed visible physical signs of torture upon her arrival in Georgia.
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