Plea for Samantha Orobator

A 20 year old Nigerian born British woman is at present languishing in a prison in Laos on charges of possession of 1.5 lbs of heroin. She was on a backpacking holiday through the far East in Thailand. It is not known how she ended up in Wattay airport in Laos allegedly carrying drugs. If found guilty she faces the death penalty by firing squad. Incarcerated since August 2008 her imprisonment did not come to light and would not have come to light if a fellow inmate did not inform the Australian authorities. To compound the issue Samantha became pregnant in December last year in what was supposed to be a women's only prison. The conditions in the prison are said to be horrendous...no electricity, no running water except for 2 hours every 2 days, a small cell holding 5 other inmates. Concerned friends and relatives fear for her mental and physical health. She has been limited to 20 minute meetings with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office representative once a month.
A legal representative is visiting her to find out more details. It does not bear thinking what conditions she is facing in that prison. Efforts must be made to help this young woman and offer her a fair hearing in the trial that will be starting soon. She must be given a fair chance to tell her side of the story. The world needs to know what really happened before the Laotian authorities execute her without fair representation and a fair trial.