British teenager claims she was tortured into smuggling drugs to Georgia
Bella May Culley, 18, showed the court a scar that was allegedly inflicted on her in Thailand before she was handed a suitcase full of drugs, which was seized from her at Tbilisi airport.
She said she had no idea what was inside, and her lawyers said it was 'impossible' she had committed the crime and she had been set up by unknown individuals in Thailand.
Appearing at the Tbilisi City Court for a pre-trial hearing, Ms Culley wore a pink sweater and had her hair in a bun as family members, including her father and her aunt, supported her from the public gallery.
Ms Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in May after disappearing while travelling in Thailand, only to appear in court 4,000 miles away.
Ms Culley said: 'I didn't want to do this, I was forced under torture. I just wanted to travel, I just want to live with my family, I am a loving person, I am studying at the university to become a nurse.
'All I wanted to do is travel, but bad things happened. I don't do drugs, as you can see in my blood tests I am clean. I always wanted to make my family proud. Thank you.'
She exercised her right to remain silent for the rest of the hearing and has not made a plea.
The court earlier heard how prosecutors wanted to deny Ms Culley bail, arguing there was a risk of absconding and the destruction of evidence. Ms Culley has previously said she was pregnant and her lawyer raised this with the court again when arguing for bail.
Malkhaz Salakaia, Ms Culley's lawyer, disagreed and argued it was 'impossible' that the teenager committed the crime.
Mr Salakaia argued she should be granted bail, and claimed she tried to show police a 'long, snake-like' scar on her arm when she was transiting as evidence she had been coerced.
'I cannot agree with the prosecution's position regarding her continued detention,' Mr Salakaia said. 'It is impossible that Ms Bella committed this crime. I would like to ask Bella to show the scar on her right arm, which was inflicted before she was loaded with the cargo she never even touched.'
Ms Culley then showed her arm to the court, which had a visible scar.
Denied bail
Mr Salakaia said she arrived in Thailand with just £70 to her name and has since become pregnant, and described her unborn child, whose father is also British, as 'a labour of love'.
'You'll see her actual involvement with these charges in her own testimony that is coming shortly. She is innocent.
'Her emotional state exactly confirms that she was forced, I want to ask her to show the court her arm and you can see the burning scar, this scar occurred before she was 'equipped' with her carriage – that she never even touched.
'From Thailand to Sharja, from Sharja to Thailand, this baggage was carried by a different person. She was only given a passport and told you go there and there.
'She tried to inform the passport control but was paid no attention. She even has no idea geographically where she is, she thought Tbilisi was a country.
'She was given a photo and was told to keep [it], and that she would be approached by certain people. This meeting didn't happen because she was detained.'
Mr Salakaia added that Ms Culley approached a police officer in Thailand, who he claimed turned out to be a member of the criminal gang who allegedly forced her to commit the crime.
Lela Kalichenko, the judge, denied bail and Ms Culley will next appear on July 10.
Ms Culley had arrived in Thailand from the Philippines but suddenly vanished, and family members had not heard from her since May 10.
However, it was revealed days later she had been arrested at Tbilisi airport with '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana … as well as 20 packages of hashish'.
Footage shared by broadcasters in Georgia appeared to show the 18-year-old walking into court in handcuffs.
Customs officers at Tbilisi airport allegedly discovered her bag to be full of drugs, according to local media reports.
A video showed a suitcase apparently full of drugs, including around a dozen sachets labelled 'hash'.
Ms Culley could face up to 20 years or even life imprisonment if found guilty.
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