UK woman facing death penalty in Laos expects to go on trial Monday

[moobu2]

Source: Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A pregnant British woman who faces death by firing squad if she is convicted of drug smuggling could go on trial in Laos as early as Monday, a human rights group said Sunday.

Samantha Orobator, 23, has been in jail in Laos since August, when she was accused of trying to smuggle just over half a kilogram (1.1 pounds) of heroin in her luggage.

The British-based human rights group Reprieve said Orobator has not had access to a lawyer yet.

Reprieve lawyer Anna Morris is in Laos trying to help Orobator. She told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Sunday that she had been granted permission to meet with the jailed woman for the first time on Tuesday. But Morris said Orobator had been told the trial could start a day earlier — on Monday.


Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-eu-britain-laos,0,6812738.story

[imdjh]

1. Hard to believe that anyone is still trying that sort of thing

It doesn't have anything to do with the issue of the death penalty, or how a woman who has been in prison for months is pregnant- simply wondering out loud why anyone would be so idiotic as to try to smuggle drugs in a suitcase these days when you have zero expectation of getting away with it.

[Kutjara]

10. Guess the Laotians aren't the only ones who've decided she's guilty in advance, eh? n/t

[theoldman]

2. It's a good idea to check out the laws of a country before you go there.

This woman did not think before she got on that airplane. I did a lot of thinking before I went to China many years ago. I would be even more careful in some other countries.

[madeline_con]

6. Do you think she was that dumb?

[Titonwan]

12. Exactly. In the military, we were warned

that if you get in trouble in some foreign lands where we have no treaties that Uncle Sam couldn't do jack shit for us. It's the death penalty or worse (life in a tiger cage)
and there's no excuse for ignorance of the law. Sounds cold blooded, but it doesn't matter one whit whether it's a woman, a pregnant woman, a preganant priest woman or what ever.
And if you're going to cry over Laos enforcing their laws, then you ain't got shit to say about Bush torturing and beating prisoners to death and calling for his prosecution and conviction. Which I am. What I'm NOT is a hypocrite. The law is the law is the law.

[depakid]

13. Don't say nothin' don't even joke about the Thai Royal family!

the whole lese-majeste has bumped Thailand down the list of places I plan to go.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. We do not know the drugs were hers. In Laos I doubt they are rquired to proved a chain of

custody with fingerprints etc. For all we know someone put the drugs in her suitcase without her knowledge and planned to have an accomplice remove them later. This makes more sense than someone carrying it in their own suitcase and would be very easy to do. There is no telling how much contraband gets transported this way. You would just need to bribe baggage handlers in different airports.

[madeline_con]

5. I saw a documentary about that very thing.

Western women are being used as mules. They are lured from their hotels to take a free tour. While they're away, their luggage is loaded with drugs.

[imdjh]

11. When you said western women as mules

I thought of

[WriteDown]

4. This should be interesting....

"The circumstances of Orobator's pregnancy remain unclear."

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

7. I don't check bags in S.E. Asia

When I travel in S.E. Asia if it doesn't fit in my carry-on bag it doesn't come, Singapore alone has hanged a number of people who are unlikely to have been deliberate traffickers.

When I see the human garbage that works at most airports i'm not taking any chances. If they can steal your shit from your bags they can add theirs too.

[bitchkitty]

8. When I lived in England

there was a scandal with the Heathrow baggage workers opening bags and taking their pick of clothes, jewelry, electronics, etc. They were on hidden camera. One man opened a bag, took out a sweater and held it up to himself to see if it fit. That made a big impression on me, so when I fly, I don't put anything that would be painful to lose in my suitcase. Carry on works for me in most cases anyway, and I don't have to stand in a big crowd of tired, cranky people, I can just walk out the door and grab a taxi.

[Kutjara]

9. That's why they call Heathrow "Thief-row".

A few years back, there was a racket run by baggage handlers in Heathrow and JFK. They'd scan the bags going onto the planes, and then tell their accomplices on the opposite side of the Atlantic which ones were worth stealing. Then they'd split the proceeds.