I read this shocking story on the Metro yesterday. Very scary.
Miss Orobator, 20, from London was arrested last August at Wattay airport in the south east Asian country.
Prosecutors claim she had 680 grams (1.3lb or 21 oz) of heroin in her luggage.
I am actually terrified for this woman. They are not sure how she became pregnant as she fell pregnant whilst in prison in Laos, at a prison notorious for being extremely dangerous.
Please can anyone who blogs link this story so we can get the word out amongst other black bloggers to highlight Ms Orobator’s plight.
[Source: The Telegraph]
afrospear.wordpress.com 
It seems rather odd this young lady became pregnant in a women’s jail. I wonder if it was voluntary? Further her trial date has been moved forward so Reprieve cannot provide her with a proper defence lawyer. Also the British do not seem to be trying very hard to help her. 20 minutes a month does not seem very much help. If it was Gary Glitter the Brits woul;d be trying so much harder to get him back to Britain. This whole thing stinks but then what can you expect of the Brits. They have never supported their own citizens abroad. I would not have any confidence in the British embassy in Thailand. When the Tsunami happened secuity escorted citizens looking for help out the door onto the street in the clothes they stood up in. God help that poor girl this is the same embassy with the same people and she has to rely on them. Their main concern will be what contracts will be lost if they make waves.Normally I have no sympathy with western drug smugglers in foreign countries but no defence lawyer and being raped in jail well that takes the biscuit. Please pray for her because that is all she has.
Gilc,
Your comments about the British is absolutely crap!!!!. For your information I am black and British. If you bothered to read through the facts of the story or even watched the news reports you would understand that it was the government of Loas who deliberately hid the fact that Samantha Orobator was imprisoned in Loas. The fact that she can only see someone from the British Counsul for 20 minutes a month is their rule – something that is beyond the control of the British Counsulate.
For your information ministers from Loas will be in London on 7th May and will no doubt be discussing a way to end Samantha’s nightmare.
That shit that you mentioned about Gary Glitter – no one in Britain was interested in helping that paedophile!!!!
Get your facts straight before making comments that are sick and unfounded.
Lizp
Black British and proud
Im way more disturbed by this case. Pregnant while imprisoned? Im banking on the fact that she was not a willing participant in this & possible needs to be screened for STDs.
I hope that this can be resolved!
We of course do not have all of the facts on the table regarding the drugs but to me it sounds like a set-up.
Laos is ass backwards with this rules & bullshit laws.
Tafari
here is more info
http://jezebel.com/5239133/pregnant-briton-may-face-firing-squad-in-laos
Dear Lipz
The British have managed to see her on four ocassions. The Australians have seen her on 10 occasions plus have taken their doctor to examine her. She is now in her 10th month of imprisonment. As far as Gary Glitter goes the Thais . The Vietnamese and The British spent a fair deal of time and effort forcing him back to the UK after his release so that he could be put under British control. I don’t see the same time and effort being put in here.
The basic thing is to get her represented by a lawyer, to have some kind of defence, Your ministers meeting is likely to take place after she is tried and convicted, It’s so much harder to rectify a situation after the event than it is to stop it from happening in the first place. Also all your ministers comments (Jack Straw) are going with the notion she will be convicted but they will do everything they can to make sure she is not shot.
If anyone is playing off ther back foot it is the British. Usual losers strategy.
Tafari I think your comments are very sensible.
Please, try ur hardet to stop the young woam from contining her sentence and her being killed
Hello there!
Thanks for blowing the trumpet about this!
I can’t even BELIEVE that the U.S. media has not turned this into a nightly news feature…. oh but wait… yes I can.
*shaking my head*
if it was not for the prisoner who got away to talk up and say what is going on. samantha would still not be newsworthy and laos government may have got their way.
To all, I recently received this bulletin:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday 7th May 2009
Reprieve welcomes the prisoner transfer agreement signed and ratified by the government of Laos; anticipates expeditious passage through parliament; requests immediate access to Samantha Orobator in prison; and suggests that the Lao authorities conduct an investigation into apparent solicitation to bribery.
Reprieve welcomes the Prisoner Transfer Agreement signed today in London and ratified by the Lao government. We ask that the Agreement be fast-tracked to ensure that, should Samantha be convicted, she may return to Britain before June 6th when she enters her third trimester of pregnancy.
We also call on the Lao government to allow Samantha the full support of Reprieve’s independent counsel during her trial. Thus far, despite travelling 9,344 km on the Lao promise of full legal access to Samantha, Reprieve counsel Anna Morris has been denied the chance to even meet her.
Reprieve also expresses concern at the purported bribery solicitation received today, and requests that the Lao government conduct an investigation into it.
Samantha Orobator, 20, was arrested at Wattay Airport on 6th August 2008 on a drug smuggling charge. Since then she has been held in the notoriously abusive prison Phonthong where she became pregnant in early December.
Samantha has now been appointed a state-appointed Lao lawyer for her trial, thought be scheduled for next week. However, independent Reprieve lawyer Anna Morris is still being denied access to Samantha. It is difficult for Samantha to establish a relationship of trust with an appointed lawyer so close to trial, particularly when she knows that independent Reprieve counsel are being excluded.
Reprieve urges the Lao government to allow Anna Morris confidential and immediate access to Samantha. Samantha is 5 months pregnant and enduring the most stressful of circumstances. As this trial proceeds, Reprieve’s main concern is for her health and that of her unborn child.
Reprieve has written today to the Lao authorities to request an investigation into the bribery solicitation received today; sent by someone purporting to be connected to the Lao authorities. Reprieve expresses no opinion on the genuineness of the demand, but it is obviously a threat to the impartiality of the Lao legal system.
“We hope that all the efforts of past several days will bear fruit,” said Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith. “But it must be recognized that Samantha faces the most stressful experience of her life, and we very much fear for her health and that of her unborn child.”
For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea at Reprieve’s Press Office katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk 020 7427 1099.
Notes for Editors:
Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.
Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 33 prisoners in the US prison at Guantánamo Bay, working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty, and conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’
Reprieve
PO Box 52742
London EC4P 4WS
Tel: 020 7353 4640
Fax: 020 7353 4641
Email: info@reprieve.org.uk
Website: http://www.reprieve.org.uk
Reprieve is a charitable company limited by guarantee; Registered Charity No. 1114900 Registered Company No. 5777831 (England) Registered Office 2-6 Cannon Street London EC4M 6YH; Chair: Lord Bingham; Patrons: Alan Bennett, Julie Christie, Martha Lane Fox, Gordon Roddick, Jon Snow, Marina Warner
Katherine O’Shea
Reprieve
Tel: 020 7427 1099
Mob: 07931592674
http://www.reprieve.org.uk
Reprieve delivers justice and saves lives
I have not heard about the bribery and would like to know more about that. The Lao Government may very well want this case to go away as it is causing some very bad press. I am speculating now about the bribery. People at a low level in these asian countries expect bribes. When a case is high profile they think bigger bribe. They think they are dealing with people like themselves from the west who take bribes. Bribes are the oil which makes the world go round. It is a bit of a shock for them when they find out thes westerners don’t think the way they do and report the bribes.If that is the case then it is extremely good news as the Lao government will be forced to make some face saving deal. Sorry it is rather pie in the sky till I have more information.
the situation sounds like a set up to me if someone was going to smuggle that much heroin they would’nt just put it in their luggage knowing the risks most smugglers try to swallow the packages and later pass it through their feces
as for getting pregnant while in prison she is obviously getting raped in prison for that reason alone she should get some amnesty and if she really is guilty which i highly doubt because of how they found the drugs she should spend the rest of her jail sentence in the uk after enduring such humiliation and pain
The girl in my opinion doesn’t look at all scared, lets face it she is still quite young, i work will a bunch of 20 year old’s and i can image them being forced into this situation. It all seems a bit to fishy, something is going on in this case, but nothing ever stays a secret for too long…did anyone notice her hair seems to be done up really nicley when she was coming out of the trial and it looked like she was trying hard to not smile. something very odd here!!!
plus did anyone notice how shiny her lips was she is even getting vasaline. hmmm something odd here.
i know for a fact my mum would have come to loas and killed me herself for being so foolish…And making a taking the piss of the family name.
hmmm something very odd in this case.
she was forced into all of this or there is a bigger conspiracy the government trying to set examples…try not to believe the hype…hmmm odd huh???
After reading the article, I feel that I really need more info. Could you share some more resources ?
p.s. Year One is already on the Internet and you can watch it for free.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time! Had it been in Singapore (not quite an a-backwards country), she probably would have already been executed. When in Rome, . . . don’t do stupid things that’ll get you imprisoned and/or executed.
By virtue of being a prisoner, she cannot voluntarily be impregnated. She was raped! She is in the custody of a Loatian prison. She does not have any freedom. Her every moment is dictated for her.
She will be released to the British gov’t who will then determine her fate. At that time she may chose to discuss her ordeal. If not, I hope that the media will be inconsistent and will, for once, give her the privacy and time she needs to deal with only God knows what she has been through.
Since it has been known that Loas is a corrupt country for many years, please do not assume that this young lady is guilty as charged.
The British gov’t as well as my country, America, need to issue honest travel adviseries to warn those who travel to countries with known histories of corruption and human violations against its citizens.
Executed that is ridiculous! They need to get to the source if they want to execute somebody not the pawns.