[Tlc] L-trial

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
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justin



2009-0513 - AFP - Laos to give 48 hours' notice of Briton's trial

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hWX4010tgmslMIZDLr9FdRTm69Cw

Hosted by Google

Laos to give 48 hours' notice of Briton's trial

22 hours ago

HANOI (AFP) — Authorities in Laos will give at least two days' notice before starting the trial of a pregnant Briton on a drugs charge, a Foreign Office spokesman said on Tuesday.

Samantha Orobator, 20, was detained in August after allegedly being caught with 1.5 pounds of heroin while trying to board a plane to Thailand.

Normally, anyone found in Laos with more than 500 grams of heroin faces the death penalty.

But last week, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith assured Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell during a meeting in London that a pregnant woman would not receive the death sentence, Rammell said.

The date of Orobator's trial remains unclear but Lao authorities "confirmed that they will give us at least 48 hours'" notice, said the Foreign Office spokesman, who declined to be named.

He said that no notice had yet been received.

A Lao government spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Britain, which has no embassy in Laos, has sent additional diplomatic personnel to the communist nation to assist with the case, said the spokesman.

The vice-consul based in Bangkok has been joined in Laos by two other colleagues, he said.

If Orobator is convicted she could serve her sentence in Britain after the two countries last week signed a prisoner transfer agreement, Rammell said earlier.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

©2009 Google
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Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu