Pregnant 20-year-old Samantha Orobator is imprisoned in Laos on possession of 1.5 lb of heroin, while boarding a flight to Thailand. She was returning to her home in Britain after traveling around Ireland, Holland, Thailand, and Laos. For the last 9 months, Samantha has been held in Phonthong prison awaiting her trial. Samantha’s mother Jane can only wait in her home of Dublin, Ireland, 6,000 miles away, and hope the best for her daughter.

Until just a few days ago, Samantha has faced execution for carrying over 1.1lb of heroin, which is the minimum amount warranting execution in the Eastern Asian country. Because of her pregnancy, Samantha will not face death by firing squad. However, if the foreign ministry and British affairs had not become aware of her situation soon enough, Samantha may not have been so lucky. The British government learned of Samantha’s situation months after her arrest. The Laotian government’s “excuse” was that they did not have a fax machine.

The reason for Samantha’s pregnancy is unclear. According to a doctor sent to examine her by the Australian Embassy, she is five months pregnant, and has been in prison for nine months. Laotian Foreign Ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing said that Samantha told authorities that her boyfriend had impregnated her. “It’s impossible [that she was raped] because the prison in Phonthong is specially created for women prisoners. Even the guards are all ladies….We should know at a later stage. I want to know too,” says Nuanthasing.

To me, it’s still not impossible that Samantha was raped while in prison. And if this is true, it means that the Laotian government is ultimately lying about her situation. Is there more to this story then? Well, if we look into the past first, we can see that Laos has a track record as far as treatment of foreign interlopers.

2001, “No on can leave that prison innocent,” says Australian Kay Danes, after spending 11 months in Phonthong with her husband, Kerry. The Danes worked for the security firm Securicor, and were accused of stealing gems worth more than $6m from one of their clients. “I just got roughed up a bit…and received death threats,” said Kay. Her husband was not as lucky, “He got the wooded blocks on his legs and was quite brutally intimidated.” Prisoners will often have wooded blocks secured to their legs, and be confined to a cell for an indefinite amount of time.

Fortunately Kay and her husband were released. But Kay took back with her terrible memories: 10 feet away from her guards burn and inmates’ genitals. She recalls walking past an African inmate, as his head was stuck in a bucket of sewage. “They were trying to drown him,” she said.

June 4, 2003, two European journalists, and their American interpreter were arrested in northeastern Laos, where they were reporting on Hmong insurgents, the remains of a force that aided the US in the Vietnam War.

The three were charged with involvement in the murder of a village guard, after being innocently caught amidst a gunfight. In a mere two-hour trial, the men were sentenced to 15 years in prison for possession of weapons and obstruction of justice. On July 10, they were released.

February 6, 2004, 42-year-old British businessman Michael Newman is arrested for trying to smuggle money out of Laos.

He was sentenced to seven years and six months, and ordered to pay nearly 6 million in fines. He, and his Thai business partners, was accused of possession of drugs, owning communication equipment without permission, and breaking tax regulations, and other things that were detrimental to Laotian economy. Newman allegedly ran a “boiler room” in the Laos capital Vientiane, selling shares at inflated prices for high commission.

On May 14, 2008, Michael Newman is found dead in his cell, in Phonthong Prison. He had been desperately ill for over a week, but needlessly refused medical attention. John Watson, a fellow UK prisoner sentenced to life in Phonthong for drug possession, met with the UK embassy the day Newman’s body was scraped out of prison, praying that they would assist him in transferring to his own country. Watson knows that if he falls ill, there are no skilled medical staff, and no resources, to help him should he fall ill.

A look inside the prison for yourself: The daily ration consists of two bowls of pig fat, water soup, and a bowl of sticky rice. Cells measure four square meters, and are said to be used by up to six prisoners at the prison. Prisoners are starved, isolated, deprived of sleep, beaten burned, and given mock executions. Imagine what they do to their own people. Phonthong is a prison specifically for foreigners.

Check Out photos of the Phonthong Prison

There’s no question that the conditions in Phonthong are repulsive, and it would not be surprising if Samantha Orobator was indeed raped. And it’s no surprise in my mind that Laotian officials have treated Samantha’s case with such carelessness. Unfortunately, if no agencies intervene on Samantha’s behalf, her wellbeing, and that of her unborn child, doesn’t look good.

“I want them to release her. I’m down on my knees” Samantha’s mother, Jane said very shaken an interview with SKY News this Monday. Her mother is terrified. She never imagined that her daughter would ever be involved in drug activity. According to a friend, Samantha has never even smoked a cigarette. Samantha’s life is in question, and so is the life that her loved ones think she has been living. A terrible amount of emotion must be afflicting Samantha, and her family and friends.

Samantha’s trial is hopefully to begin this week, as soon as she is appointed a local lawyer. It is possible that it will not though, and that her trial will be delayed even longer. God forbid the Laotians loose their fax machine.
—Sebastian Lumpkins