""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)."
"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."
Bella Culley, a 19-year-old British citizen eight months pregnant, was detained in Tbilisi in May after arriving from Thailand via Sharjah Airport. Georgian authorities discovered 12 kilograms of marijuana and 2 kilograms of hashish in her luggage. Culley claimed she was forced to commit the crime under pressure and torture, and her parents had reported her missing in Thailand. Prosecutors cited her health, confession, age, and cooperation as reasons to seek release. The court found her guilty, sentenced her to five months and 24 days and fined her 500,000 laris; time already served allowed immediate release.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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