Pregnant Woman Could Face Laos Death Penalty

Pregnant Woman Could Face Laos Death Penalty

Monday, May 4, 2009

CNN: A pregnant British woman facing possible execution in Laos will go on trial this week, the country's foreign affairs ministry said Monday.

Samantha Orobator "is facing death by firing squad for drug trafficking," said Clare Algar, executive director of Reprieve, a London-based human rights group.

Orobator, 20, was arrested on August 5, said Khenthong Nuanthasing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman.

She was alleged to have been carrying just over half a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin, Reprieve lawyer Anna Morris told CNN by phone from Vientiane, the Laotian capital. "For that amount of heroin the sentence is normally the death penalty," she said.

Orobator's mother Jane found out in January her daughter was pregnant -- more than four months after she was arrested, her mother said.

Jane Orobator heard the news from the British Foreign Office, which has been monitoring the case, the mother told CNN by phone from Dublin, where she lives.

She cannot believe her daughter was involved in drug trafficking, and was surprised to learn she was in Laos, she said.

"I don't know" what she was doing there, she said. "The last time she spoke with me, she said she was on holiday in London and she would come to see us in Dublin before returning to the U.K. in July.

"She is not the type of person who would be involved in drugs," she added.

Reprieve is worried about her health, especially given her pregnancy, Anna Morris said.

"She became pregnant in prison. We are concerned that it may not have been consensual and we are concerned that someone who finds herself in prison at 20 is subject to exploitation," she said.

She is due to give birth in September, the lawyer added.

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4 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

How dare you call that young lady a skeezy especially since you only no her through this article. How quick we are to pass judgment without knowing a person.

- Ann Brock

Posted 05/04/09 11:17 PM

:) at abbi! It does seem fishy that her mom tries to paint her as such a responsible young lady, yet she is jailed in Laos on over 2 pounds? Give us a break here.

- ame i.

Posted 05/04/09 11:33 PM

HALF a kilogram is NOT 2.2 pounds.

- Anonymous

Posted 05/05/09 02:48 AM

I agree with Ann. We don’t know this girl or her situation. We don’t know if she consented to the sex or not. We don’t know the situation behind what caused her to commit this crime. So passing judgment is foolish. And even if she’s guilty, even if she tried to get pregnant on purpose, it’s still a sad situation. And one that we should not pass judgment on. Especially now that there’s a baby involved who could very well never get to know his or her parents.

- Carrisa

Posted 05/07/09 11:46 AM