Death by Firing Squad for Pregnant Woman from London

May 2, 2009 by Baby Chums
Filed under: News

Samantha Orobator, 20, who’s pregnant and from London, UK, was arrested at Wattay airport in the Asian country of Laos last August, nine months ago.

Friends and campaigners believe the pregnancy is a result of a rape at the notorious Phonthong prison.

Prosecutors claim she had 680 grams of heroin in her baggage and are seeking the mandatory penalty for possession of over 500 grams of heroin of death by firing squad.

The legal campaign group Reprieve say she has not met a lawyer since she was arrested and it is alleged that she denies the drugs were hers.

Without warning or explanation on Thursday, the government of Laos rescheduled Samantha’s trial for next week, but they have still not said which day the case will begin.

Reprieve said in a statement: “By scheduling her trial for next week, the Laos court has made it impossible for any lawyer to prepare an adequate defence… Samatha’s life now hangs in the balance.”

“Laos appears to be acting in a way that frustrates Samantha’s right to appropriate legal assistance,”

The circumstances surrounding Samantha’s December pregnancy are unknown, “It is not possible to confirm whether she was raped,” Reprieve said.

“The prison where she is being held in Phonthong is meant to be all female, but this is apparently not the case.”

Reports of the notoriously abusive Phonthong prison describe “highly unsanitary” conditions, inadequate rations and severe punishments for supposed breaches of discipline.

Reprieve said: “Samantha is severely distressed, and Reprieve has grave concerns for her health and that of her unborn child.” Another British prisoner, Michael Newman, died after being reportedly refused medical attention at the same prison last year.

Samantha had been on holiday in Holland, Thailand and Laos for around a month when she was arrested as she began her journey home.

Her friends in London, interviewed by Reprieve researchers preparing her defence, say she had never been involved with drugs.

One of her former teachers said, “She was very popular. I remember she had a bizarre sense of humour. She was very bright… she always got As and Bs.” There is no British embassy in Laos, a communist dictatorship of 6 million people. British diplomats in next door Thailand only learnt of her detention months after she was arrested. Since then she has been allowed to meet a consular official for only 20 minutes every month, always with a guard present.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Bangkok said: “We have been actively engaging with the Lao authorities at a senior level.”

In a press conference at Westminster on Friday the human rights lawyer and founder of Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith, called on Samantha Orobator’s MP, Harriet Harman, to intervene on her behalf. The foreign minister of Laos is visiting Britain on 7 May.

At least 39 people have been sentenced to death for a variety of offences since 2003.