Pregnant Brit May Face Laos Firing Squad

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2009 3:10 AM CDT
Pregnant Brit May Face Laos Firing Squad
Samantha Orobator has been languishing in notorious Phonthong prison for nine months.   (AP Photo/Reprieve, Ho)

A young pregnant Londoner could face a firing squad in Laos if she's convicted of drug smuggling charges in a trial that begins today, reports the Guardian. Samantha Orobator, 20, has not been allowed legal representation in the nine months she has been languishing in notorious Phonthong prison, and it's not known how she became pregnant during that time. "She is five months pregnant, without ever having met a lawyer, facing a show trial for her life," says a British attorney.

"We are concerned about her health care standards, we are concerned about her nutrition, we are concerned about her lack of pre-natal care," says the lawyer who is finally scheduled to meet with Orobator tomorrow. "This is a vulnerable woman with child." (More London stories.)

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