Samantha Orobator's saga continues. Orobator, a 20-year-old British woman arrested in Laos for smuggling heroin and tried in a country where drug smuggling is punishable by death, has just been sentenced to life in prison.
Officials in London and the Laotian capital of Vientiane agreed to a prisoner transfer last month, but it won’t take place, according to a representative, until the sentence is finalized with no appeals. Human rights lawyers and British officials worked on Orobator's behalf, which must have paid off because the amount she was carrying would otherwise have gotten her the death penalty.
Orobator got pregnant in prison but denies that she was raped. Her baby is due in September, and although she evaded death and will hopefully be in a British prison soon, what a tragic fate for such a young woman and her child.
Ben Sherman
Nike
Hatbox
Wow. What a shame. The so called "war on drugs" results in so much heartache. Addiction is such a tragic component of the human condition.
1It's tragic for her child, but this woman should have known what she was getting into. She did something wrong, and now she needs to pay the consequences.
2She really just keeps screwing up doesn't she?
3First, attempting to smuggle drugs anywhere, let alone where its punishable by death, and then have sex with a guard? Or whoever it was, resulting in pregnancy?!
Why should Britain take pity and house her for the rest of her life? Crazy.
This is sad, yes. She was aiming to be a doctor, and now her life is all kinds of messed up.
But a lot of this is her fault. She didn't HAVE to smuggle/deal with heroin at all, let alone into a country where they KILL PEOPLE for trying to poison their population. Certainly death would have been an extreme punishment, because there is something wrong with that law - but if those are the laws of the land where she was charged with the crime, then Laos has every right to serve the punishment for that crime.
She should be thankful every single MINUTE for the rest of her life that there were more powerful politics and legal forces on her side; at least they spared her life. Though now, I wonder what quality of life she will actually have. That poor child.
4I don't have that much sympathy for her. When you try smuggling heroine in a country where drug smuggling is punishable by death, you know you're taking a risk.
5I don't feel sorry for her. DRUGS unless it's prescription by doctor kill
6Don't commit the crime if you don't want to do the time.
7I don't feel sorry or sad for this situation at all. She put herself in this place. "She wanted to be a doctor" HA! Doctors make a promise to heal people and this woman was helping deal death. Give me a break.
8"I don't feel sorry for her. DRUGS unless it's prescription by doctor kill"
Tell that to Elvis!
9"tragic fate for such a young woman and her child." She chose to smuggle drugs, the only person innocent here is the child.
10I'm pretty sure her child can go elsewhere. The kid had nothing to do with all this...so perhaps s/he can be adopted PDQ and avoid a single day of prison.
As far as the mom, I think she was trying to make a quick buck and didn't think things through. If you know the punishment for getting caught is death and you do it anyway? Hmmm, I wouldn't want to be a patient of hers! Not smart.
Wasn't there a movie about such a situation a while back? With Claire Danes? She wasn't put to death, but she was sentenced to life in prison.
11Brokedown Palace Choochoo.
12Another good movie regarding this topic is Midnight Express. Its a true (although it was a little different than the book) story about a guy sentanced to life for smuggling hash out of Turkey.
I really don't feel for her at all. The innocent child, yes. However, the baby will be taken and raised by a fit household, will it not?
13She knew the consequences and went through with her actions anyway. She should count herself blessed for not being taken out and shot like every other one of the people convicted of this crime. If you do something like this, you deserve to be caught and you deserve to be punished. There's reasons for laws and it's necessary for law enforcement to uphold them.
Tragic for the child. But for her? Heroin is an awful drug that destroys people's lives. I don't really feel bad for her at all.
14I heard in a report that she may have impregnated herself by another prisoner's sperm in an effort to escape the death penalty.
15I can't imagine why anyone would feel sorry for her. Only people who are in bad situations through no fault of their own should have pity.
16the death penalty is extreme, but thats Laos' decision. she's a moron for doing it in the first place and i wonder if she got knocked up b/c of the lesser sentence?? hmmmm
17laos is still communist. if you try to do something like that, think about your life twice. but i do wish that laos do change their government views in the near future. laos has potential to being a prosperous country if they are willing to be open minded. (btw, i'm a lao descent just do you know why i feel passionate about their changing their government.)
18My sympathy for her is extremely limited. She's an idiot. She really should have checked into the drug laws of the country to which she was traveling.
In addition, at least in the US, any kind of drug offense can make it difficult or impossible to get full prescribing rights as a physician. So it makes it doubly stupid her for to do something like this.
19I have absolutely no sympathy for her. She was trying to smuggle heroin (which I'm pretty sure is illegal just about everywhere) into a foreign country where she could get the death penalty for it. Smuggling at ALL will keep you from being a doctor, and who wants a doctor who is willing to put others at risk and commit illegal acts for profit? I think she completely deserved this, and that the only innocent person here is her child. She made the choice. She faces the consequences.
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