BRITISH WOMAN CONT:
Orobator was arrested in August and charged with trying to smuggle 1.5 pounds (680
grams) of heroin in her luggage. Anyone caught in possession of over 1.1 pounds (500
grams) is subject to the death penalty, Khenthong said. "But there is another provision of
criminal law that the death penalty will not apply to pregnant women."
The circumstances of Orobator's pregnancy remained unclear, though Khenthong said
she told authorities in an interview after her arrest that she had become pregnant by her
boyfriend.The British legal charity Reprieve said Orobator was five months pregnant,
but because she had no access to counsel they could not confirm that. A doctor sent by
the Australian Embassy who visited Orobator in prison in March told Reprieve that she
is due to give birth in September.
Reprieve issued a statement Tuesday saying its representative, Anna Morris, had been
barred from entering Phonthong prison despite having been scheduled to meet Orobator.
"I am deeply frustrated by the lack of access to this vulnerable young woman. This is
preventing Reprieve from obtaining firsthand knowledge of her welfare and how she is
being treated in prison," the statement quoted Morris as saying. "We urge the Lao au-
thorities to allow us access to speak to Samantha as promised, to appoint her a Laotian
lawyer and to conduct a fair and open trial."
In a response Khenthong said, "the Lao Government never denied access to Samantha,"
and that the group should recognize Laos "has its own law and rules" for seeing foreign
prisoners. Morris said Reprieve made a formal request to see Orobator through Britain's
Foreign Office before she left for Laos. The British vice consul sent from neighboring
Thailand also made formal requests on its behalf to the Lao Foreign Ministry.

Khenthong said Orobator's trial will be open for all parties concerned, particularly the
British consul-general and officials from the Australian Embassy, which handles British
interests. Orobator had been in jail for months before the British government learned of
her detention. British diplomats and doctors have since visited her. Laos is a one-party
state and rights groups say the judicial system is beholden to the communist regime that
has ruled since 1975.
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