Pregnant Woman May Face Death Penalty in Laos
Samantha Orobator, 20, was arrested while trying to board a plane to Thailand at Wattay airport in August. Samantha Orobator was allegedly in possession of 1.5lb of heroin.
Unfortunately for Samantha Orobator, in Laos anyone in possession of more than 500g of heroin typically faces the death penalty by firing squad.
While Samantha Orobator denies any knowledge of the drugs and claims Laotian officials have made a terrible mistake and mistook her for a drug trafficker, her situation looks grim. She has not been able to see a lawyer during her eight months in custody.
The court in Laos has suddenly decided Samantha Orobator's trial will be next week. This leaves very little time for Reprieve, a British charity which helps people facing the death penalty, to intervene on the behalf of Samantha Orobator. According to reports, Reprieve has dispatched a UK lawyer to consult on the appointment of a Laotian lawyer to represent Miss Orobator.
Samantha Orobator 's case becomes even more complicated than your typical anti-death penalty, human rights case as she appears to have become pregnant while in Laos's Phonthong prison. She has been in Phonthong prison for eight months, and is believed to be only five months pregnant.
While one shudders to think of the thousand horrible ways this might have occurred, the unexpected Pregnancy may work in Samantha Orobator legal favor.
"The law also provides that any pregnant (woman) will not be sentenced to the death penalty," said Mr Khenthong, a Lao government spokesman. Further, According to Amnesty International, there have not been any executions in Laos since 1989. While the death penalty is at times the sentence, those who are sentenced to death are believed to have remained on death row.
The Foreign Office Minister, Bill Rammell, plans to discuss Miss Orobator's case with the Lao Deputy Prime Minister on Thursday when they meet in London. The British Lawyer assisting Samantha Orobator hopes the Lao minister will discuss a prison transfer scheme when he comes to London on Thursday.
Though the question of how Samantha Orobator became pregnant is still unresolved, British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith has said: "Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary." Reports from former inmates at Phonthong jail suggest that conditions are "not good - certainly not for anybody who is pregnant", added Ms Algar in a recent interview.
British Embassy, Thailand, ukinthailand.fco.goc.uk
Reprieve, reprieve.org
Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator may escape death penalty, Times
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- Samantha Orobator was allegedly in possession of 1.5lb of heroin.
- In Laos anyone in possession of more than 500g of heroin typically faces the death penalty
- She has been in Phonthong prison for eight months, and is believed to be only five months pregnant.
7 Comments
Post a CommentMost don't ask the question about how she even got locked up in the first place. Currently, no one in the press has access to the 'facts' because no one has been given access to her (save for the consulate - which will never interfere in another country's sovereign legal process). In fact, only these allegations are known at this time:
1. Drugs were found in luggage during transit through Laos.
2. The authorities have stated that the luggage belonged to her.
3. The quantity is sufficient to incur the death penalty.
4. She was locked up in a local prison facility, initially without consular assistance, then without legal assistance. Her family was not informed.
5. She denies the charges, but other than that, zero information has been released.
6. Legal counsel from Reprieve was denied access, despite being issued a visa. Only after international pressure was she allowed to pick a 'local lawyer' from a preselected list. However there are no reports that she has been seen by
Another good example why the US should not be among the barbarous countries who still have the death penalty.
This story is a tragedy in many ways, but it does reinforce how, despite the problems we have with our justice system in America, how much better it is than many other countries in the world.
Good reporting of a horrifying story!
Interesting story!
This is really scary.
;-);-)