The family of Bella Culley, a 19-year-old pregnant British woman arrested in Georgia on drug smuggling charges, said Tuesday they had paid $187,000 in compensation to a Georgian court to secure her release.
Culley, from Billingham in northeast England, was detained in May after arriving at Tbilisi International Airport, where prosecutors alleged she was carrying 12 kilograms of marijuana and 2 kilograms of hashish in her luggage. Under Georgian law, drug smuggling carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, told reporters outside the Tbilisi courthouse that the family had paid 500,000 lari (approximately $186,846) and were awaiting confirmation that the payment had been processed. “She’s looking big, pregnant, but she looks strong,” Kennedy said of her daughter, who has been held in a women’s prison in Rustavi, near Tbilisi.
Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, said another hearing would take place next Monday to determine the next steps in the case. Culley has pleaded not guilty, claiming she was coerced and tortured into transporting the drugs. “I am a clean person,” she told the court in July.
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