News update on Samantha Orobator from the Vientiane Times Newspaper in Laos.
Mother of British prisoner says Samantha looking well
Jane Orobator, mother of British national Samantha Orobator-Oghagbon, who has been in detention in Vientiane since last August on charges of drug trafficking, was pleased with the appearance of her daughter, whom she has visited twice in prison.
She said her daughter was looking well and she believed Samantha would get a fair trial in a Lao court.
“Samantha is looking well, she has no problems.”
Ms Orobator talked to Vientiane Times reporters in her first meeting with the Lao press yesterday since arriving in Vientiane two weeks ago.
Before coming to Laos, she said she had heard rumours about the treatment her daughter had received while in prison. Now she was in Laos she could see for herself the situation was different.
Some initial fears about the fairness of the Lao system and associated authorities had been allayed by her visit, she said. Those fears had been based on limited information.
“All (the information) I was getting came from the Internet,” she said.
Asked if she believed her daughter would get a fair trial, she said she thought she would.
“Yes, I think so because now that I have seen everything with my own eyes… I can see she is not being maltreated,” Ms Orobator said.
She said communication with her daughter had allowed her greater peace of mind.
“So now that I’m here, at least I know she will get a fair trial.”
Jane Orobator visited her daughter on May 19 for the second time and expressed her appreciation to the Lao authorities for giving permission for the visit.
Ms Samantha Orobator-Oghagbon was arrested at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane on August 5, 2008, on her way to Sydney, Australia, after 680 grammes of heroin, contained in 68 capsules, were found hidden on her body.
No exact date has yet been given for Samantha’s trial because the Lao authorities need more time to uncover the full facts about her pregnancy.
Director of the Drug Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security, Lt. Col. Khamphonh Sihaphancha, said recently the case of Samantha Orobator-Oghagbon needed further investigation to discover how she became pregnant while in prison.
Her pregnancy attracted a great deal of attention in the foreign press, with reports circulating that she had been raped by prison guards.
Her mother Jane made it clear to Vientiane Times her daughter had not been raped or sexually assaulted while in prison and the father of her unborn child was not a Lao prison guard.
During the interview, Ms Orobator asked the authorities to speed up her daughter’s case so it could come to trial as soon as possible.
“I want to beg you all to hear the cry of a mother,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Under Lao Criminal Law, a pregnant woman cannot receive the death penalty. This means that Ms Orobator-Oghagbon, even if found guilty, would not receive the death penalty because of her pregnancy.
By Phonekeo Vorakhoun
May 27, 2009
Vientiane Times
