Jailed British woman leaves Laos for UK
August 7, 2009
A pregnant woman from the UK, who has been serving a life sentence in a Laotian prison on drug trafficking charges, left the Southeast Asian country on Thursday to return to Britain, according to a statement issued by the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Samantha Orobator, who is in the third trimester of her pregnancy, is expected to arrive in the UK early on Friday.
She was jailed in August of last year, following her arrest at the Vientiane airport for carrying more than a half-kilogram of heroin, officials in Laos said. Normally the charges carry a death sentence, but when it was learned that Orobator was pregnant, the sentence was reduced to life in prison.
Authorities in Laos agreed to release Orobator and another Briton jailed on drug trafficking charges, John Watson, after a deal was signed last week with British authorities.
In the agreement, Orobator and Watson, the only two UK nationals jailed in Laos, were to be returned to Britain, according to a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office.
The agreement was not specific to Orobator’s base, but was signed in part to make it possible for her to give birth in Britain.
She became pregnant while in jail, and the story made headlines around the world.
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