Pregnancy may help Briton avoid firing squad: Laos

Samantha Orobator was detained in August after allegedly being caught with 1.5 pounds of heroin

Samantha Orobator, 20, was detained in August after allegedly being caught with 680 grams (1.5 pounds) of heroin while she was trying to board a plane to Thailand.
Normally, anyone found in Laos with more than 500 grams of heroin faces the death penalty, which the communist country has in the past carried out by firing squad.

"But another provision of the law also provides that any pregnant (woman) will not be sentenced to the death penalty," said the government spokesman, Khenthong Nuanthasing.
He said a judge would decide on the sentence if she is found guilty at the trial, although exactly when the hearing will be remains unclear.

Orobator's mother, Jane Orobator, has told Britain's Sky News television that her daughter was not pregnant before her arrest and it remains unclear how she became pregnant. She is due to give birth in September.

Anna Morris, a lawyer from the British charity Reprieve, which helps people facing the death penalty, said her group's understanding is that a pregnancy exemption "may exist" under the penal code.

She questioned why the possibility of an exemption was not raised in January after Nigerian-born Orobator became pregnant.

"We await official confirmation by a judge that she won't face the death penalty," Morris said.
Spokesman Khenthong said he understood that the trial -- initially expected sometime this week -- would be postponed until next week "due to the issue that we need a lawyer for her".

There was some concern Orobator had not had sufficient legal advice, but the spokesman said the justice ministry was compiling a list of lawyers from which she will be able to choose.
Morris told AFP from Laos that a meeting with Orobator, which was due to happen on Tuesday, still had not taken place.

"We're in the dark and it's deeply frustrating," she said.
In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Britain's vice consul at the embassy in Bangkok had flown to Laos and was "intending to visit her in prison imminently."
In Bangkok, an embassy spokesman said he had not received official confirmation of the trial date.

The spokesman said British diplomats first visited Orobator on August 14, within a week of being notified of her arrest, and had returned several times since.
In a statement last July, global human rights watchdog Amnesty International said there had been no executions in Laos since 1989.

Government spokesman Khenthong said he understood some foreigners had received death sentences "but in practice it's not implemented."