A Nigerian born British citizen, who went to Laos to buy some "merchandise" was taken into custody after 1.5lb (680g) of heroin was found on her person at Wattay airport in Laos, en-route London. Samantha Orobator-Oghagbon, 20, who got pregnant in prison (possibly raped by Laos prison authorities), was arrested August 6, 2008. In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence by firing squad upon conviction? Miss Orobator was born in Edo State Nigeria in 1988 and moved to Camberwell, South London in 1996; where her aunt, Sabaina Orobator helped with raising her. Her father lives in Nigeria while her mother, Jane Orobator and three young sisters live in Ireland. Samathan Orabotor_Oghagbon is currently being held at the notorious Phonthong prison, where most prisoners rely on their families for food and welfare due to the deplorable conditions therein. Unfortunately for Orabotor, she has no family in Laos to bring her any provisions including food, so she must contend with the available which consists of two bowls of pig fat water soup and 18oz (500g) of sticky rice? What a five star menu? One of her sympathizers articulated her condition as follows:- there is no one there to visit her, no one to talk to and she doesn't speak the language of Laos! Also there is lack of medical care in Laos prisons, which had caused the death of a British citizen Michael Newman in his prison cell last year after he was refused medical treatment. A French national, Francis Prasak, also died in a Laos prison in January 2001 after his requests for medical treatment was also ignored. Icheoku asks, what fate then awaits this 20 year old pregnant mother to be, when other precedents are so horrifying? Laos, it should be recalled is a communist nation of about of 6 million people, under the vice-grip of a dictator and shares border with Thailand. Miss Orobator according to sources, led a troubled life and had made several suicide attempts in the past. She also suffered from low self-esteem as a result of sexual and physical abuse by men, family and friends." As is always the case with such couriers, Miss Orobator-Oghagbon claimed that she was forced into carrying drugs for a third party? Wonderful? Icheoku says, a faceless third party, really?
WHAT A PITY! CAN THE LAW HAVE MERCY? AT LEAST, BECAUSE OF THE UNBORN CHILD. WHO KNOWS, THIS UNBORN BABY CAN TOMORROW'S OBAMA.
ReplyDeletePregnant Laos inmate to get visit
ReplyDeleteSamantha Orobator was born in Nigeria but grew up in London
A pregnant Briton facing a possible death sentence in Laos if convicted of drug smuggling is expected to meet a human rights lawyer later.
Legal charity Reprieve said its lawyer had been given permission to visit Samantha Orabator, 20, of south London.
Miss Orabator is due to go on trial in the south-east Asian country this week without a defence team.
Prosecutors say she was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport last August.
In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence.
At least 39 people have been sentenced to death in Laos since 2003.
Miss Orobator has been held at Phonthong prison, where it is claimed she became pregnant in December.
Reprieve says the authorities in Laos have brought her trial forward a year to avoid her having proper legal representation.
Reprieve lawyer Anna Morris said she was concerned that Miss Orobator had not been assigned a defence lawyer.
"We are concerned that any hearing may be quite quick in comparison to what will happen in other countries," she said.
"Things are moving quickly. We found out only this morning [Monday] that the trial wasn't going to take place today, but we still have no more information as to when it will take place."
Mother's appeal
But Laotian government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing insisted the trial would be carried out fairly.
He said it was expected to be held this week but was unable to confirm a date.
There is no British embassy in Laos, but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said the British vice-consul from Bangkok would also be meeting Miss Orobator later.
Jane Orobator has appealed for her daughter's release
A spokeswoman for the FCO said: "He will be seeing her [on Tuesday] to provide consular assistance.
"It will be in the way we would normally give it - to see about her welfare and well-being and to work towards ensuring she has proper legal advice and proper medical care."
The FCO reiterated the government's opposition to the death penalty "in all circumstances" and said it took "every opportunity to make representations to the Lao authorities about our opposition to the death penalty".
Miss Orobator was born in Nigeria and lived in south London from the age of eight. Her father lives in Nigeria and her mother and three sisters live in the Irish Republic.
She had been on holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands before travelling to Laos.
Her mother Jane Orobator said: "I'm just appealing to the British government, to the Laos authorities, to just please release her. They should just bring her back to me."
Mrs Orobator added that she has no idea why her daughter was in Laos and had last heard from her in July, when she was in the Netherlands.
Co-prisoner Impregnated Me, Says Nigerian in Vietnam
ReplyDeleteFrom Funmi Peter-Omale in London with agency report, 06.08.2009
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Nigerian-born British woman, Samantha Orobator, 20, jailed for life in Laos, Vietnam, for smuggling drugs, has confessed that a fellow British prisoner, John Watson, 47, is the father of her unborn child.
This is coming against the backdrop of frantic diplomatic efforts by the British authorities to ensure quick transfer of pregnant Orobator to the UK, to serve her sentence, as she gets into the third trimester stage in her pregnancy.
Reliable sources have also confirmed that Watson, who is also serving a life sentence for drug smuggling and had agreed to father her baby to save her from death sentence, is also being transferred to serve his remaining sentence in UK jail.
Orobator, last Wednesday, pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle heroin out of the country, but her death sentence was commuted because she is pregnant.
Orobator had been held in Phonthong since she was arrested at Wattay International Airport on August 5, 2008, with 1.5lb (680g) of heroin, and reportedly conceived last December, claiming the father was a Buddhist monk, and later said she had inseminated herself using Watson's sperm. A syringe was found among her belongings.
There is, however, palpable fear that Orobator may not be transferred to the UK before her pregnancy reaches term.
Although the UK and Laos signed a prisoner transfer agreement last month, it does not come into effect immediately, so she may end up having the baby in Laotian jail. It is gathered however, that she is being visited by medical team to ascertain her state of health and fitness, preparatory to a possible flight home. She has been reported to have expressed her worries that the prison diet will harm her baby and had been described by her mother, Jane, as "very fragile."
Caroline Morten, of Human Rights group Reprieve, said: "she's just into her third trimester now and needs to be given a doctor's approval to fly, but we are hoping to get her back in a week. At the moment, we don't want to talk too much about what's going on, but we are optimistic."
Confirming the repatriation, a spokesman from the Foreign Office said, "we are working on the goodwill of the Laotian government to repatriate Ms Orobator as soon as possible and Mr Watson would of course benefit from that too, in making an application."
Watson was arrested in 2003 and given a life sentence in 2006. His health has deteriorated in jail and he is said to suffer from depression. He has been denied visits from anyone except officials from the Australian embassy, who are able to meet him once a month, and he is able to send occasional emails home. The UK has no consulate in Laos.
"I know it sounds like an old cliche," Watson said last year to the Foreign Prisoner Support Service, an online campaigning group based in Australia, "but honestly, being in here, I do truly believe now that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
Meanwhile, following the new development, Watson is facing sanctions in prison as his mobile phone had been confiscated by officials at the squalid Phonthong prison in Vientiane, where the pair are being held He could face further sanctions from the authorities if he was proven to have helped Orobator.