Bella Culley, a pregnant British teenager jailed in Georgia for smuggling marijuana and hashish from Thailand, was freed on Monday (November 3) under a plea agreement.
The plea deal saw Culley,19, sentenced to her to the nearly six months she had already spent in jail.
Flanked by her mother and lawyer outside the courthouse moments after being released, Culley, said she had not been expecting to walk free, and was "happy and relieved" at the news.
Culley, from Billingham,Teesside in England, was sentenced to the five months and 24 days she had already served in jail in the South Caucasus country.
She has been arrested at the airport on arrival in May after going missing in Thailand. She also paid a fine of 500,000 lari ($187,000).
Georgian prosecutors say she was carrying 12 kg (26 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kg of hashish in her luggage. She and her defence team had said she was tortured in Thailand and forced to transport the drugs.
Culley, who is about eight months pregnant, initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking of illegal drugs.
The case prosecutor, Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili, said authorities had adjusted her plea agreement after taking into account her young age and pregnancy.
"We are very grateful that they took Bella's situation and financial condition into consideration," Culley's lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told reporters.
The teen's family say they are trying to get her passport back from the police so she could leave the country as soon as possible.
Monday's sentencing caps a high-profile trial that thrust Culley and her family into the public eye at a time when Tbilisi is tightening penalties for drug-related offences.
Drug smuggling carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Georgia. The government earlier this year passed amendments increasing penalties for consuming and possessing small amounts of some narcotics.
Central Asia’s fintech ambitions are in the spotlight as a major forum in Tashkent draws to a close, shifting attention from the region&rsquo...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time bein...
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 10 prisoners of war each in Belarus, Moscow's Human Rights Commissio...
Oil prices fell after the U.S. expanded economic sanctions on Iran, as Tehran vowed to retaliate and warned it had tools to respond, raising concerns over potential disruption to regional oil supplies.
Kyiv has recently received a small number of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. It comes as Britain and France pledged stronger military support for Ukraine.
Only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, following 13 transits a day earlier, as disruptions continue to restrict traffic through the key energy chokepoint.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time being”, Axios reports. Meanwhile, Iran and Oman have resumed talks on a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 10 prisoners of war each in Belarus, Moscow's Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, has said.
Central Asia’s fintech ambitions are in the spotlight as a major forum in Tashkent draws to a close, shifting attention from the region’s potential to the investment, infrastructure and global reach needed to turn that vision into growth.
Iran and Oman discussed a phased plan for a temporary shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz during the Omani foreign minister’s visit to Tehran on Tuesday, as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. over the strategic waterway.
More than half of the Syrian city of Aleppo's ancient markets have now been rebuilt, over a decade after they were reduced to rubble during the early years of the Syrian civil war.
The UN has condemned the entry of Israeli forces into a UNRWA training centre in East Jerusalem, warning the move could disrupt vital education for young Palestinians.
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan are among 11 countries set to benefit from a $400 million Asian Development Bank investment aimed at cutting freight times and costs along key Central Asian transport corridors.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment