A British student who went missing in Thailand caused a lot of concern all over the world.
Now, it seems she has been found, but not in the best situation. She has been detained, but not in Thailand, but in a completely different country.
Keep reading to learn more.
18-year-old Bella Culley was on vacation, backpacking through a popular route in Asia. She began her trip in the Philippines on April 28 and began to document it online for social media.
She hopped across islands in the Philippines before arriving in Thailand on May 3rd. This is where she last spoke with her family, after which they experienced radio silence from her end and raised the alarm.
When her family heard from her again, she was in Georgia, about 4,000 miles away from where they thought she was. Georgia, which is in the Eastern European region of South Caucasus.
In Georgia, Culley has been arrested and charged with illegally buying, possessing, and importing large quantities of narcotics, including marijuana. The teenager is now claiming she is pregnant.
It is not apparent how she travelled from Thailand to Georgia.
The state has appointed Ia Todua to represent Culley in these legal proceedings. Todua confirmed that she did not speak during the hearing and was sent to a same-sex pre-trial detention facility in the Georgian city of Rustavi. The city is near the capital of Tbilisi.
According to Culley’s legal representative, she arrived in Georgia on Saturday, the 10th of May. She was kept in a temporary detention center till her hearing this week.
Todua shared, “She was so clenched, she is a child, in my personal opinion. When she was explained the essence of the accusation, she was worried to speak.
“When we asked her to testify at that moment, she decided to choose silence.”
Culley was charged with ‘the illegal purchase and possession of a particularly large amount of narcotics, the illegal purchase and possession of the narcotic drug marijuana, and the illegal importation of the drug into Georgia.’
The drugs were discovered in a bag belonging to the British teenager at Tbilisi International Airport.
Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement, “Law enforcement officers, as a result of defendant’s luggage inspection at Tbilisi International Airport, seized a particularly large amount of the narcotic drug marijuana, up to 12 kilograms and 2.068 kg of the narcotic drug hashish as evidence.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the UK has given a statement saying they are involved. They said, “We are supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia and are in contact with the local authorities.”
According to Georgian authorities, the teenager could face up to 20 years in prison if she is found guilty.
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