English girl facing firing squad in Laos

[letigger]

There could be another explanation (though hardly likely), that she was forced to do it for fear of reprisal (of non agreement)against her family or friends, Drug barons often use fear or intimidation to get their deeds carried out.

As for the Mother, who knows....depends who was behind the business (see above), the report of her travelling on holiday last year and being arrested in Aug 2008 (as a Tourist) as begining to look suspect as don't forget I met her in Laos early February 2007 !

People can be very convincing when required, she seemed like a decent enough girl, but you can never tell and more often than not people in my experience let you down, I personally have great experience in dealing with people from all walks of life and consider myself a reasonable judge of character.

But you never know !!

[saint]

Just given out on BBC news that Samantha was carrying the drugs around her body, so was not in a suitacse or bag.............................

Mmmmmmmmmmm if this is true , which im sure it is , as auntie doesnt tell lies !!!!! if indeed it is true , sort of makes a fair trail a bit silly ..... unless of course , she was abducted by aliens , artificialy inceminated with a delayed sperm , locked into a time warp whilst the drugs were put about her person , obviously without her knowledge , and then tellyported to the loas border !!!!! yea that sounds feasable , what do you human rights mob think ? of coarse , in light of this new evidence , definately INNOCENT ........

[jackspratt]

Just given out on BBC news that Samantha was carrying the drugs around her body, so was not in a suitacse or bag.............................

Mmmmmmmmmmm if this is true , which im sure it is , as auntie doesnt tell lies !!!!! if indeed it is true , sort of makes a fair trail a bit silly ..... unless of course , she was abducted by aliens , artificialy inceminated with a delayed sperm , locked into a time warp whilst the drugs were put about her person , obviously without her knowledge , and then tellyported to the loas border !!!!! yea that sounds feasable , what do you human rights mob think ? of coarse , in light of this new evidence , definately INNOCENT ........

saint, ya just don't geddit, do ya.

Every person should be entitled to a fair and open trial, no matter how damning the evidence against them =D>

A trial gives the opportunity to test that evidence, and to look at mitigating circumstances.

If a trial is silly, where do you suggest the line should be drawn whereby a person is automatically adjudged to be guilty, and perhaps sentenced to death.

Has anyone posting in this thread suggested she was innocent - NO. That is just you drawing up a straw man to justify your "hang 'em high" mentality.

All people are doing is suggesting she should not be judged to be guilty until there has been a trial, and before and during that process she should have access to legal representation. =D>

[Irish Alan]

BBC NEWS
Laos mum-to-be denied UK lawyer

A pregnant Briton facing a possible death sentence in Laos if convicted of drug smuggling has reportedly been refused access to a lawyer.

Legal charity Reprieve said a planned meeting with Samantha Orabator, 20, of south London, had been blocked.

She faces trial this week, accused of possessing 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when arrested at Wattay airport last August.

A Laos government spokesman told the BBC a pregnant woman would not be sentenced to death.

In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence and at least 39 people have been sentenced to death in the south-east Asian country since 2003.

However, human rights watchdog Amnesty International reported last year that no-one had been executed in Laos since 1989.

And Laos government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing told the BBC Miss Orobator's pregnancy would prevent her execution.

"We would not sentence a pregnant woman to the death penalty," he said.

Mr Nuanthasing said the trial would be conducted fairly but was unable to confirm a date.

Miss Orobator has been held at Phonthong prison, where she reportedly became pregnant in December.

The Foreign Office said the vice-consul from Bangkok, in Thailand, had been allowed into Phonthong prison to speak to her on Tuesday. It was the seventh visit from UK officials.

A spokesman was unable to comment on Miss Orobator's condition but said: "We are paying very close attention to her welfare."

Claire Algar, from Reprieve, said she was "encouraged" by the assertion that an expectant mother would not be shot but added: "She will only remain pregnant for the next however-many months."

She also said doctors and the UK Foreign Office had said Miss Orobator had become pregnant while in jail. The Laotian government has claimed she had been pregnant when arrested.

Reprieve says its human rights lawyer was refused access to Miss Orobator, without explanation. The charity is urging the authorities to ensure a fair trial.

Ms Algar said: "It's very necessary that Samantha meet with a laywer and, we would say, both with a British lawyer and Laotian lawyer."

She said she was "extremely concerned" about Miss Orobator's welfare.

"People who have left [the prison] in the past have spoken about malnutrition, that they haven't received water regularly, there are no beds on which one can lie and they have also spoken of abuse," she added.

The Foreign Office has reiterated the government's opposition to the death penalty "in all circumstances" and said it took "every opportunity to make representations to the Lao authorities about our opposition to the death penalty".

Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell is due to raise the case with the Laotian deputy prime minister when they meet in the UK on Thursday.

They are expected to discuss a prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries and it is hoped Miss Orobator might be transferred to the UK as a result.

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

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

Her mother Jane Orobator said: "I'm just appealing to the British government, to the Laos authorities, to just please release her. They should just bring her back to me."

Mrs Orobator added that she has no idea why her daughter was in Laos and had last heard from her in July, when she was in the Netherlands.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/u ... 033074.stm

Published: 2009/05/05 12:02:12 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[Khun Paul]

I am answerin this post again as I feel some have missed a point or two.
1, Girl was carrying drugs for another .....illegal no matter how you say it.
2, Girl was obviously doing it willingly...... Stupid
3, Lao law is quite clear on this fact........importing or exporting drugs is against their law.....penalty death with exceptions .....exceptions are if pregnant possible communtation.
4. Girl not pregnant before arrest......now pregnant ....reason possiblty to avoid death
Last and not least, I AM NOT PRE-JUDGING HER OUTCOME but the above speaks for itself, call her whatever you wish to but Scum is a touch harsh.
Her outcome will be decided by the Lao authorities, but serving prison in the UK will have no effect on her or other people like her, so IF GUILTY should stay in lao prison if not executed, NOT be shipped to the UK to enjoy 5 star care at the expense of the UK taxpayer..... nuff said.

[jackspratt]

I am really amused by those who promulgate the fiction that life in a top or even medium security western prison is a 5 star existence.

Have any of you ever been inside a prison? Or perhaps more to the point, have you ever been in a 5 star hotel?

[rufus]

Where exactly has it been stated that she admitted carrying the drugs ? Can someone please post the link.
.

ABC News, Monday evening at 6.00 pm.

[arjay]

I wonder who she admitted/told these various things to that are quoted in the very reliable press!!?

As she hasn't been allowed access to a lawyer so far, I can't conceive that she would have been allowed access to TV newspaper and reporters! I would doubt that what she said to Embassy officials would be released to the press, though I suppose I could be wrong.

I would say again, that none of us know the truth for sure, and that we should not therefore pre judge the situation.

AS Jack said:

Every person should be entitled to a fair and open trial, no matter how damning the evidence against them =D>

A trial gives the opportunity to test that evidence, and to look at mitigating circumstances.

[westerby]

I am answerin this post again as I feel some have missed a point or two.
1, Girl was carrying drugs for another .....illegal no matter how you say it.
2, Girl was obviously doing it willingly...... Stupid
3, Lao law is quite clear on this fact........importing or exporting drugs is against their law.....penalty death with exceptions .....exceptions are if pregnant possible communtation.
4. Girl not pregnant before arrest......now pregnant ....reason possiblty to avoid death
Last and not least, I AM NOT PRE-JUDGING HER OUTCOME but the above speaks for itself, call her whatever you wish to but Scum is a touch harsh.
Her outcome will be decided by the Lao authorities, but serving prison in the UK will have no effect on her or other people like her, so IF GUILTY should stay in lao prison if not executed, NOT be shipped to the UK to enjoy 5 star care at the expense of the UK taxpayer..... nuff said.

My word, that's very accurate information, who were your sources? Did you use your contacts to gain access to that Lao prison and speak to her, you are after all, a well known TV personality.

[beer monkey]

Claire Algar, from Reprieve, said she was "encouraged" by the assertion that an expectant mother would not be shot but added: "She will only remain pregnant for the next however-many months."

She also said doctors and the UK Foreign Office had said Miss Orobator had become pregnant while in jail. The Laotian government has claimed she had been pregnant when arrested.

So that means that she has given birth already...caught in August 2008,possibly fertilized around july, 9 months pregnancy = now(or late)...or done already....certainly not in the next few months if she was pregnant before arrest.

The Lao authoritys check to see if a woman is pregnant when they arrest them do they..?..as she would of been very early stages and not showing anything, if she was showing the birth would of occurred already due to the timing....me thinks someone is telling porkies... who could it be..

something really don't add up with the whole thing, and i guess we will never get the full sp, maybe she will be released and tell all to the News Of The World or The Sun..exclusive.

5 star is a bit of an exaggeration...but compared to the Laos prison i can see what KP is saying.

have you ever been in a 5 star hotel?

I can answer in the 'affirmative' to that.

[ULICK MC GEE]

A British Nigerian,this gets better.Guilty as sin

Mod Note - post edited to correct spelling and avoid ambiguity.

[jackspratt]

A British Nigerian,this gets better.Guilty as sin

I am wondering whether you are just a poor speller ULICK, or if your mistake is deliberate.

Mod Note - spelling now corrected to avoid any ambiguity or misunderstandings!!

For future reference, the word is "Nigerian" ie from Nigeria.

The rest of your post is about par for the course, and the word "contemptible" springs to mind.

[beer monkey]

That must be how ULICK thinks it is spelt....same on the 'Irishmnan faces execution' thread...page 2 ,5 posts down, sure you put him right now jack.

[ULICK MC GEE]

Respectfully and duly noted,bm and jack.
But remember the heroin in the syringe hanging from the arm of the dead addict,orginated somewhere and someone carried it and someone sold it and someone died.
Hang the next six farang heroin trafficer's caught in S.E.Asia and watch the sharp drop in supply eu and usa.
Is that "contemptible"enough for you.

[Khun Paul]

Dear Westerby, no I do not have access , like everyone else I read the English and world nationals and gather my arguments from these and other sources of info.
it is a fact, the drugs were either on her perosn or in her suitcase. it is a mfact that amount found was not small therefore compliance must be taken into account.
it is a fact she is pregnant, how and when open to to discussion,
it is a fact that rarely are pregnant women executed ( note the word rarely)
so my sources are as yours but when you take out the rhetoric and the emotions, these facts are indisputable.
What remains is actions carried out by our country to try to secure her release into our custody or whether she will remain a guest of the laotians.
Try looking at the big picture not an emotive story put out by a mother who was only too well aware that her daughter was in laos last year, but seemingly failed to complain then.

[jackspratt]

ULICK, you are living in cloud cuckoo land if you think that hanging any number of traffickers will make any sort of dent in the heroin trade.

Simple answer if you are looking for a sharp drop - legalise and regulate it. =D>

[ULICK MC GEE]

Jack.
Indoneisa about 84,85 had an auisse and a brit on death row and was a very high profile case with all the usual suspect's and excuses how stupid they were how sorry they are.
Two day's before sentence was to be carried out,Maggie Thacther made a personal phone call to the Indoneisan individual he did not take the call and she had to make her plea to a aide.The same day the pope made a public worldwide plea for mercy.
Indoneisa hanged the two at dawn the next morning a day before the set date,they informed next of kin by phone at hotel and within hour's bodies and familes were airborne.
From the date of sentence to date of excution the authories said very little and not one personal plea was responded to.
A month later to the day an individual issued a statement."You in the west praise our harsh drug law's and complain about poppy farm's.
The Law applie's to everybody and the is there in the airport for everyone to see,the pressure applied by some countries was taken as arrogant attitude to our country and law's.When was the last time you can remember frang caught in Indoesia.

[gulfman]

Today's news from UK's ITN

Quote: In the letter, Reprieve's executive director Clare Algar writes: "Samantha is being held in deplorable conditions in the notorious Phongthong prison and is now five months pregnant. It is indisputable that Samantha became pregnant whilst in prison".
She went on: "We still have grave concerns about the fairness of any legal process. It is imperative that the British Government make forceful representations to the Lao authorities to ensure that Samantha receives a fair trial and that she and her baby are safely returned to the UK." Unquote

So here is one pressure group that is determined to try an persuade the British Government to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation - and at the same times seems to have decided that she is innocent and should therefore return to UK. She should be tried under Lao law in the same way as anyone else accused of committing a crime in Laos. After all, it is their country and their laws.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

A month later to the day an individual issued a statement- ulick

What is your source for this quotation?

Indonesia has not had a individual for many centuries. They have had sultans but not in modern times. The Indonesian President at that time was Suharto.

[jackspratt]

Jack.
Indoneisa about 84,85 had an auisse and a brit on death row and was a very high profile case with all the usual suspect's and excuses how stupid they were how sorry they are.
Two day's before sentence was to be carried out,Maggie Thacther made a personal phone call to the Indoneisan individual he did not take the call and she had to make her plea to a aide.The same day the pope made a public worldwide plea for mercy.
Indoneisa hanged the two at dawn the next morning a day before the set date,they informed next of kin by phone at hotel and within hour's bodies and familes were airborne.
From the date of sentence to date of excution the authories said very little and not one personal plea was responded to.
A month later to the day an individual issued a statement."You in the west praise our harsh drug law's and complain about poppy farm's.
The Law applie's to everybody and the is there in the airport for everyone to see,the pressure applied by some countries was taken as arrogant attitude to our country and law's.When was the last time you can remember frang caught in Indoesia.

There have been no Australians executed in Indonesia in my memory. Barlow and Chambers were hanged in Malaysia a number of years ago - they both lived in Oz, but one of them may have been a Brit.

The last time I remember a farang being caught in Indonesia was in April 2005, when 9 Australians were busted with 8kg of heroin, about to be smuggled back to Oz.

I hope you have given more time to your consideration of the drugs question than you have to your study of history