UK drug girls released in Ghana

Two British girls jailed in Ghana for trying to smuggle drugs to London have been released from prison.

Yasemin Vatansever and Yetunde Diya, both aged 17 and from north London, were arrested at Kotoka International Airport in Accra on 2 July 2007.

The pair denied trying to smuggle 6kg (13lbs) of cocaine, claiming they were not aware of the drugs in their luggage and that they had been set up.

They were sentenced to one year in prison in January.

"The girls have served their full sentences, but the men who groomed them and lured them to Ghana remain free to target other vulnerable young women"
Catherine Wolthuizen, Fair Trials Abroad

Teenagers paid penalty

The girls were found guilty of drug possession and trafficking at an earlier hearing in November.

Having already served three months in a detention centre they had hoped to be released in April as the Ghanaian prison authorities have the discretion to take three months off a 12-month sentence.

But days before their release date they were told they would serve their sentences in full.

According to Fair Trials Abroad the teenagers are expected to return home to the UK by the end of the month.

Sabine Zanker, head of the charity's legal team, met the girls when they were freed just before 1000 BST.

She said: "They are in very good spirits. They are very relieved but there was also some sadness in saying goodbye because they have been treated with extreme kindness."

'Small fry'

The pair were arrested under a joint operation set up a year ago between the UK and Ghana to combat drug smuggling.

But Fair Trials International chief executive Catherine Wolthuizen urged the authorities to focus their efforts on catching the "big fish" behind such operations.

She said: "The girls have served their full sentences, but the men who groomed them and lured them to Ghana remain free to target other vulnerable young women.

"These men are known to the authorities but have never been prosecuted.

"The girls' experience sends an important warning to young people but the best protection against further cases of this nature is for the authorities to focus efforts on catching the big fish, not the small fry."

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