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Pregnant Briton 'faces execution' in Laos

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SweetieBabie Newbie

SweetieBabie

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A pregnant British woman faces death by firing squad if she is convicted of smuggling drugs at a trial in Laos, campaigners have said.

Prosecutors claim Samantha Orobator, 20, was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport in Laos in August.

Legal charity Reprieve has called on the UK government to intervene with the Laotian authorities on her behalf.

The Foreign Office says it is "paying close attention to her welfare".

Miss Orobator, from London, has been held since her arrest at Phonthong prison in the south east Asian country. She became pregnant in the prison in December and is due to give birth in September.

In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence.

Reprieve legal director Clive Stafford Smith said that on Thursday the authorities in Laos announced that they were bringing forward her trial by around a year to next week.

Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary

Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve

He believes the decision to move the trial was only taken after arrangements were made for her to see a lawyer for the first time.

He said: "It's pretty shocking that they would do that apparently to avoid her seeing a British lawyer before she has to go to trial.

"The notion that no lawyer should be appointed to defend her is outrageous."

He said she was "certainly not guilty" and had originally told police the drugs were not hers.

Mr Stafford Smith added: "We're dealing with a woman who has clearly become pregnant in prison. Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary".

Labour MP Stephen Pound, vice chair of the all party group on the death penalty, said Miss Orobator was being kept "in the most inhumane circumstances".

He criticised conditions in the prison saying there was evidence of "no space, no light, no exercise, no diet, no food, no consideration of the needs of a woman carrying a baby".

There is no British Embassy in Laos and the nearest is in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are paying close attention to her welfare and are in discussion with the Laotian authorities about her case.

"We have visited Samantha every month and we have kept in close contact with the family."

She said Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister Bill Rammell will raise the issue with the Laotian foreign minister when he visits the UK on 7 May.

But Mr Stafford Smith fears that could be too late.

He said: "The trial will be over by then. We're calling on the government to do everything in its power".

He wants the trial to be put back and for Reprieve lawyers and mental health professionals to be allowed into the prison. He is also seeking assurances that Miss Orobator will be provided with a proper defence.

Miss Orobator was born in Nigeria but lived in south London from the age of eight. Her father lives in Nigeria and her mother and three sisters live in Ireland.

She had been on holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands before travelling to Laos.

At least 39 people have been sentenced to death in Laos since 2003.

BBC news.

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gainesvilleman Newbie

gainesvilleman

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There is little doubt she was raped in prison (unless she actually has some street smarts and realized it might get her out of the death penalty). But there is, in my mind, the same amount of doubt that she is guilty. Not only were the drugs found on her person, they were also found in her system.

And as for the lack of due process, any traveler to this side of the world should accept that before coming here as a risk of the journey.

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Stramash Newbie

Stramash

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No compassion for this? She may be raped in prison. Would she be executed with a child inside her stomach? So inhumane :cry:

My compassion goes to the thousands of families broken apart by heroin addiction...

Completely agree with Si. Heroin does not only affect those addicted to it, but their families and loved ones and the communities they live in. The people who smuggle heroin into the country should face the harshest penalties in the country they are caught. I have seen not a single claim that she was raped and assume it was a calculated attempt at getting compassion from observers worldwide. To suggest she will be executed while with child is a ludicrous statement to make; it would never happen. Nor have I seen any claims that she was a mule and had been duped by anyone. Let her have the baby, then shoot the evil b*tch.

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Stramash Newbie

Stramash

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I have to go with Iain D on this one.

now that's scary; the European loony left liberal being agreed with by the gun toting hillbilly right winger!!!! :wink:

:shock:

On a topic that involves abortion, prisons, AND the death penalty!

DAMN THOSE DEATH PENALTIES!!!

:D

(though puzzled as to where the abortion comes into it)

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Admin_2 Newbie

Admin_2

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I have to go with Iain D on this one.

now that's scary; the European loony left liberal being agreed with by the gun toting hillbilly right winger!!!! :wink:

:shock:

On a topic that involves abortion, prisons, AND the death penalty!

DAMN THOSE DEATH PENALTIES!!!

:D

(though puzzled as to where the abortion comes into it)

Well, if they do kill her right now, they are aborting her baby at the same time...

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123Minez Newbie

123Minez

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I have to go with Iain D on this one.

now that's scary; the European loony left liberal being agreed with by the gun toting hillbilly right winger!!!! :wink:

:shock:

On a topic that involves abortion, prisons, AND the death penalty!

DAMN THOSE DEATH PENALTIES!!!

:D

(though puzzled as to where the abortion comes into it)

Well, if they do kill her right now, they are aborting her baby at the same time...

I feel really bad of the news.

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Stramash Newbie

Stramash

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a few points on this;

1) Laos' criminal law legislation prohibits the execution of a pregnant female therefore all the talk of killing or 'aborting' her baby is nonsense. This may be one of the reasons the trial has been brought forward; to give the Laos courts a reason not to impose the death penalty.

2) Jason, the last execution in Laos was actually 1990, although at least 39 people have been given a death sentence since 2003.

3) Again, apart from a 'suggestion' by Reprieve, there have been no actual claims of rape or of being duped into being a mule, claims (if backed by any evidence that would change the perspective on the case).

As rations are barely subsistence levels in Laos prisons, and most inmates depend on relatives to provide food, there could also be a suggestion made that she traded sex for food rather than being raped.

It is highly unlikely that she will be executed, and completely impossible that she will be executed while pregnant, so that human rights argument is null and void altogether.

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Stramash Newbie

Stramash

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Oh, but still a long time ago. The death penalty there doesn't exist anymore in practice, but there's the danger it could be brought back at some point - I don't know what the climate there is in regard to that. I hope for her sake strings can be pulled for her to lessen the sentence ..... I wouldn't wish a Laotian prison on anyone.

disagree - she was smuggling heroin, so let her rot. As I have said before, if she had been duped or forced into smuggling the heroin, then that changes the overall perspective somewhat. But since there has been no mention of this, then it seems as if she planned to pick up the drug of her own free will.

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