Pregnant British woman jailed in Laos for heroin trafficking arrives back at Heathrow

A pregnant British woman jailed in Laos for trafficking heroin has arrived back in the UK today to serve out her sentence in a British jail.

Samantha Orobator was flown into London's Heathrow Airport from the capital Vientiane just before seven o'clock today.

Orobator, 20, from south London, was given a life sentence after admitting drug smuggling - and would have faced the death penalty had she not gotten herself pregnant while in jail.



She will now serve out the rest of her sentence in a tax-payer funded British jail and give birth under the NHS.

It costs the British taxpayer £77 a night to keep a prisoner in a category B British jail.

It is still not known how Orobator got pregnant while in the Laos jail. There are suspicions she made herself pregnant through sperm donated by another prison or a guard in order to escape the death penalty.

Orobator has been in jail in Laos for 12 months.She was met by a waiting prison van as she got off the morning flight.

Wearing a white beanie and loose trousers, she laughed as she stepped on to the tarmac, along with three travel companions.

Uniformed police stood by as she was led into the van taking her to Holloway prison.

Her return to the UK comes in time for the birth of her child which is due next month.

Yesterday Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said of her imminent return: 'This is excellent news.

'Of course, we do not condone any crimes involving illegal drugs. We work around the world to combat the use of illegal drugs.

'I spend much of my time warning British tourists of the dangers of using drugs in countries such as Laos, which have heavy penalties for these crimes.

'Samantha will serve her term in a British penal establishment. But I saw for myself Samantha's advanced state of pregnancy when I visited her in prison last week.

'The transfer means that Samantha will give birth in the UK, close to her relatives and under UK medical care. This is clearly the best outcome for all - not least her unborn child.'

She will now serve out the rest of her sentence in a tax-payer funded British jail and give birth under the NHS.

It costs the British taxpayer £77 a night to keep a prisoner in a category B British jail.

It is still not known how Orobator got pregnant while in the Laos jail. There are suspicions she made herself pregnant through sperm donated by another prison or a guard in order to escape the death penalty.

Orobator has been in jail in Laos for 12 months.She was met by a waiting prison van as she got off the morning flight.

Wearing a white beanie and loose trousers, she laughed as she stepped on to the tarmac, along with three travel companions.

Uniformed police stood by as she was led into the van taking her to Holloway prison.

Her return to the UK comes in time for the birth of her child which is due next month.

Yesterday Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said of her imminent return: 'This is excellent news.

'Of course, we do not condone any crimes involving illegal drugs. We work around the world to combat the use of illegal drugs.

'I spend much of my time warning British tourists of the dangers of using drugs in countries such as Laos, which have heavy penalties for these crimes.

'Samantha will serve her term in a British penal establishment. But I saw for myself Samantha's advanced state of pregnancy when I visited her in prison last week.

'The transfer means that Samantha will give birth in the UK, close to her relatives and under UK medical care. This is clearly the best outcome for all - not least her unborn child.'



Her mother, Jane Orobator, was flying into London from Dublin in the hope of seeing her daughter.

She said: 'I just want her to come back to the UK, that is my first desire. One step at a time, I just want her to have her baby here.'

Laos foreign ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing said Orobator's return was a humanitarian gesture which took her pregnancy into account.

He added: 'To my understanding, she is fine. The doctor keeps an eye on her. Both the officials from the UK and from Laos have taken care of her, particularly her health.'

Clive Stafford-Smith, director of Reprieve, said she should be allowed access to independent lawyers on her return. continues here



Above the reprehensible Orobator an immigrant to this country and a menace to the Laotian people and indeed our own, now Orobator doesn’t belong here, she was born in Nigeria and like millions of others she came to Europe with her parents to steal our assets ,to avail herself of our resources. Not enough it seems because Orobator became a drug smuggler, seeking to make financial gain from the misery of others, yet to cap it all she is treated as some sort of minor celebrity, as if she is a heroin(excuse the pun) and our foreign office go all out to cater to her needs, perhaps there is a lesson for you all .all you law-abiding, perhaps after all crime pays. In the future Orobators child will be born ,perhaps he or she will aspire be an architect, they all seem to, yet the likelihood is that her offspring will also prey off society, cost the taxpayer dearly and be a detrimental element within society, send them home, each and every one.

Should Orobator be sent back to her native Nigeria?

'Drug-smuggling' Briton became pregnant IN Laos jail... and now she won't face the firing squad

A pregnant British woman accused of trafficking heroin in Laos will not face the death penalty because the law bans executing expectant convicts, a Laotian government spokesman has said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing also said the trial of 20-year-old Samantha Orobator would not be held until next week so that an 'appropriate lawyer' could be found to defend her.

It had been expected to start this week and there were fears that Miss Orobator might face death by firing squad.

'It might take some time,' Mr Khenthong said from the capital Vientiane.

He said that the justice ministry was compiling a list of lawyers - who must be Lao nationals - from which she could choose.

The circumstances of Ms Orobator's pregnancy remained unclear, though a Laos government spokesman said that she told authorities in an interview after her arrest that she had become pregnant with her boyfriend.

The British legal charity Reprieve, however, said Ms Orobator was currently five months pregnant - meaning she became pregnant while in prison.

Director Clive Stafford Smith has written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband asking him to intervene to ensure Ms Orobator got independent legal advice.

He said: 'We are all glad to see that the Laotians have recognised that their own law forbids executing Samantha by firing squad.

'But this is only a first, belated step forward. It was cruel to allow Samantha to think she might be shot for all these months, and the Laotians knew all along that she needed a lawyer.

'What they did not know is the international outrage that the case would cause. It seems that by delaying they now hope that the media will lose interest in Samantha's plight.'

He also criticised reports that Laotian officials had claimed Ms Orobator was already pregnant when she was arrested.

He said: 'Samantha is due on September 6, 2009, when she will have been in prison for 13 months.

'Perhaps the Laotians are under the misapprehension that she is a blue whale, that has a 13 month gestation period, but she is not, she is a human being.'

The charity also released details of a US Department of State report from 2008 that described prison conditions in Laos as 'generally harsh and occasionally life-threatening'.

Phonthong prison has a reputation for beatings and brutality. There has been no comment on whether she was raped in prison.

Ms Orobator has been in the prison since August on charges of smuggling 1.5lb of heroin.
Today a human rights lawyer and a British diplomat were both refused access to Ms Orobator, 20.

Anna Morris, a lawyer for fair trials group Reprieve, was due to see Ms Orobator for the first time after flying to Laos over the weekend but, along with the British Embassy official, was denied access to her.

Khenthong Nuanthasing, a Lao government spokesman, told The Times that he believed that the trial would now be postponed until next week 'due to the issue that we need a lawyer for her'.

'Another provision of the law also provides that any pregnant (woman) will not be sentenced to the death penalty,' said Mr Khenthong, adding that the judge would decide on the sentence at the trial.

Britain has no diplomatic presence in the Communist south-east Asian country and there is no precedent for a drug case involving a Briton, making negotiations with the authorities difficult.

Ms Morris said she was concerned that a trial would not meet the judicial standards of most countries.

'She hasn't been appointed a lawyer yet and that has been our concern,' she said. 'We are concerned that any hearing may be quite quick in comparison to what would happen in other countries.'

Ms Morris, who arrived on Sunday in the Laotian capital Vientiane, said she had been granted permission to meet Ms Orobator today.

The British vice-consul from Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand flew into Laos yesterday and also hoped to see Ms Orobator today.

Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell plans to raise the case when he meets the deputy prime minister of Laos on Thursday.

'We are primarily concerned with ensuring that she gets a fair trial and avoids the death penalty,' said a Government source.

A spokesman later confirmed: 'We have been pressing the Laos authorities to ensure Samantha has got legal representation.'

Laos government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing insisted yesterday that the trial would be carried out fairly.

'The trial is expected to be held this week but I don't know the exact dates,' he said, adding that it was up to the judge.

Ms Orobator was born in Nigeria and moved to London to live with her aunt from the age of eight. She lived in Camberwell and Peckham before leaving the country to travel to Ireland, Holland and Thailand. She was arrested at Laos airport on her way back to the UK.

Her mother, Jane Orobator, a student at Trinity College, Dublin, broke down yesterday as she said: 'I just want them to bring her back to me. I'm really terrified. I have been crying my eyes out.'

The only communication she has received from her daughter was a letter fed through the Australian embassy in January asking for a blanket, black pepper, soap, a mosquito net, candles and matches.

Since 2003, at least 39 people have been sentenced to death in Laos but the last known execution was in 1990. None of the convicts was a foreign national. continues here

Pregnant Briton 'faces execution'

A pregnant British woman faces death by firing squad if she is convicted of smuggling drugs at a trial in Laos, campaigners have said.

Prosecutors claim Samantha Orobator, 20, was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport in Laos in August.

Legal charity Reprieve has called on the UK government to intervene with the Laotian authorities on her behalf.

The Foreign Office says it is "paying close attention to her welfare".

Miss Orobator, from London, has been held since her arrest at Phonthong prison in the south east Asian country. She became pregnant in the prison in December and is due to give birth in September.

In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence.

Reprieve legal director Clive Stafford Smith said that on Thursday the authorities in Laos announced that they were bringing forward her trial by around a year to next week.

He believes the decision to move the trial was only taken after arrangements were made for her to see a lawyer for the first time.

He said: "It's pretty shocking that they would do that apparently to avoid her seeing a British lawyer before she has to go to trial.

"The notion that no lawyer should be appointed to defend her is outrageous."

He said she was "certainly not guilty" and had originally told police the drugs were not hers.

Mr Stafford Smith added: "We're dealing with a woman who has clearly become pregnant in prison. Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary".

Labour MP Stephen Pound, vice chair of the all party group on the death penalty, said Miss Orobator was being kept "in the most inhumane circumstances".

He criticised conditions in the prison saying there was evidence of "no space, no light, no exercise, no diet, no food, no consideration of the needs of a woman carrying a baby".

There is no British Embassy in Laos and the nearest is in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are paying close attention to her welfare and are in discussion with the Laotian authorities about her case.

"We have visited Samantha every month and we have kept in close contact with the family."

She said Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister Bill Rammell will raise the issue with the Laotian foreign minister when he visits the UK on 7 May.

But Mr Stafford Smith fears that could be too late.

He said: "The trial will be over by then. We're calling on the government to do everything in its power".

He wants the trial to be put back and for Reprieve lawyers and mental health professionals to be allowed into the prison. He is also seeking assurances that Miss Orobator will be provided with a proper defence.

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

So there you have it, diplomatic efforts for a drug smuggler, I have to commend the Laotians for their anti-drugs policy, after all drugs kill and the importation or dealing of them, is the same as firing a loaded gun amongst a crowd of people, someone somewhere is going to die, far better it be these reprehensible scourges on society, drug-dealers, importers and criminals.

Such diplomatic effort to free a drug-smuggler and her of other climes, what about the harm to the Laotian people through the injurious affects caused by drugs, they say Miss Orobator is innocent, what else would she say, what would you, faced with a death sentence. Hopefully readers viewing this, would take a similar stance in relation to drugs, drugs and nationalism do not mix and should ever a nationalist government come to power, then drug-dealers and other assorted parasites would have cause to fear. As for her being British ,well...