[Tlc] L-prisoner case

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Thanks,
justin




2009-0602 - The Daily Mail - Briton accused of drug smuggling 'got pregnant to avoid death penalty'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1190252/Briton-accused-drug-smuggling-got-pregnant-avoid-death-penalty.html

Mail Online

Briton accused of drug smuggling 'got pregnant to avoid death penalty'

Last updated at 9:35 AM on 02nd June 2009

Samantha Orobator

Mystery: Samantha Orobator's trial has been postponed while Laos authorities attempt to discover how she feel pregnant

A British woman accused of drug smuggling in Laos told authorities she became pregnant in prison to avoid the death penalty, a Lao government-run newspaper reported today.

Samantha Orobator, 20, has been held in jail in the country since last August after she was allegedly caught with 680g of heroin at Wattay airport in the capital Vientiane.

The Vientiane Times quoted police as saying Ms Orobator said she impregnated herself by another prisoner in an apparent effort to escape the death sentence.

Initially, it was reported she could face the death penalty if found guilty but it later emerged Lao law forbids the execution of pregnant prisoners.

It is not known who the father of Ms Orobator's child is.

Her mother, Jane, said her daughter was not raped and the father of the child was not a Lao prison official.

Authorities in Laos have reportedly postponed her trial while they attempt to solve the mystery of how she fell pregnant in prison.

Last month Foreign Secretary David Miliband signed a prisoner transfer agreement with the government of Laos meaning any potential sentence could be served in the UK.

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group

© 2009 Associated Newspapers Ltd

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu