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Original poster

This British girl on drugs charge in Laos...

138 replies

Ponders · 04/05/2009 11:39

She's been in prison since August but she is 5 months pregnant???

A bit more information would be helpful

OP posts:
ninedragons · 04/05/2009 12:43

I have been to Laos and it is completely feasible that they would not have a working fax machine.

Poor woman. It's just awful.

Notalone · 04/05/2009 12:45

No Aphrodite - Not "Nuff said". So you think her treatment is acceptable? Fair enough, she has done wrong and she does deserve to be punished. But not like this. Jesus - how can you have no compassion for a young woman who has been raped, abused, is facing death and has had not legal represetation. You don't know the full story and nor do I but the punishment DOES NOT fit the crime. I am shocked at how you can think this is ok. Would you say the same if you had a DD and this is what she had to face?

MmeLindt · 04/05/2009 12:45

My usual reaction to someone imprisoned in a foreign jail is to think that they should have abided by the laws of the country that they are in, particularly when the consequences are so serious.

In this case, however, I do feel sympathy for the woman as she has obviously been badly mistreated, from what is being reported is expecting a baby as a result of rape, has no prental care.

A bit of empathy would go a long way, Aphrodite.

mollyroger · 04/05/2009 12:48

she's on a drugs charge, she has not been found guilty! FFS, she may well be guilty but we don't know that and we also know miscarriages of justice happen all the time. How would you be feeling if this was your daughter, sister, aunt, or best friend?

Poor fucking cow. Even if she's guilty, she's young, alone, pregnant and paying a terrible price for what may well be one bad decision in life.....

MatthewBellamysMuse · 04/05/2009 12:50

Can I point out that she hasn't been tried or convicted yet so there's always the chance that she's innocent.

MatthewBellamysMuse · 04/05/2009 12:51

x-posts Mollyroger

MollieO · 04/05/2009 12:57

Didn't realise she had already been tried and convicted. I missed the fair trial completely.

CoV's post is spot on.

Not sure I understand that Customs Authority post unless they are privy to info about this case that none of us know. What do you know about the case that you are so sure she is guilty?

inscotland · 04/05/2009 12:59

My message wasn't clear. Yes, she absolutely should have a fair trial and all the help/lawyers she deserves however, if found guilty and it is proved beyond doubt she is in a country where the penalties are harsh.

MatthewBellamysMuse · 04/05/2009 13:04

I said she hasn't been convicted, or even tried yet.

MatthewBellamysMuse · 04/05/2009 13:04

Oops, MollieO, I thought you were serious

ScummyMummy · 04/05/2009 13:09

Looks like the Reprieve lawyer will see her on Tuesday so that's something, I guess.

RedEmma · 04/05/2009 13:13

She may be innocent.

She may have been foolish and trusted the wrong person.

She may have tried to smuggle drugs.

Either way, she DOES NOT deserve to be raped and killed, and I'm pretty shocked and disgusted that anyone would think otherwise.

noddyholder · 04/05/2009 13:14

She is so young to be going through that how anyone can think she should pay their price for this is beyond me.

ScummyMummy · 04/05/2009 13:27

Agree, RedE and noddy. Some people's lack of compassion is stunning.

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 04/05/2009 13:57

I thought I was the hardest nosed cow for tinking that people should be paying the penalties where such crimes have been commited, but even I think she's not having fair treatment. As for the fairly obvious fact that she's pregnant after rape...she must feel utterly destroyed. What their daily food rations consist of is beyond belief for a non pg woman, so to have this diet daily for a pg woman? it's plain wrong.

Would they actually shoot a pg woman? or wait until she gives birth? then what of the baby? it'd probably have a no life in an orphanage and always be an outcast...this is all really sickening.

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 04/05/2009 13:58

thinking not tinking.

FAQinglovely · 04/05/2009 14:01

agree with Solo's post.

StayFrosty · 04/05/2009 14:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ComeOVeneer · 04/05/2009 14:24

What is the law regarding abortion in Laos, I would be interested in knowing, because then surely there is a possibility of a charge of murder to be brought down upon those who give her the death penalty whilst pregnant?!

FAQinglovely · 04/05/2009 14:28

CoV according to this it's only legal to protect the mothers life.

Whehter any one would be charged with murder is sadly questionable given the obvious lack of human right in Laos.

FAQinglovely · 04/05/2009 14:31

and this UN docuation suggests the same - with the additional requirement of special approval from the Ministry of Health required.

AphroditeInHerNightie · 04/05/2009 16:29

Maybe I've been hardened by the sob stories I've witnessed in my profession, but my experience is that what you see in the news is only a fraction of the full story, and the media grasp onto the parts that are newsworthy.
If it weren't for the Official Secrets Act, I could relay you hundreds of tales like this where the news story led about some poor, frightened, individual who was duped and misled by Mr Big Bad Drugs Baron and is now paying the price. Certainly in the case of UK nationals they are NEVER that naive or stupid to have made "one bad decision". Drugs runs are meticulously planned and require the utmost trust of some pretty nasty individuals (who she must have therefore willingly mixed with)to be executed. The organisations behind these wouldn't trust their products to some sweet innocent wee slip of a thing.
There's no such thing as a "set-up" in the real world of drug-trafficking.
And don't forget, the heroin she was planning to smuggle in would be on your streets and potential harming your loved ones.
Yes, it is very sad that the conditions she is facing are so horrendous, however what really sticks in my craw is how she is being portayed as a "victim" - she's a bloody criminal.
Had she been in the UK all her human rights would have been infringed but in Laos, the law stands that if you commit such a criome this is the price you pay.
If she didn't want to risk the incarceration and abuse that might come with it, she should have re-thought her plans.
It's her family I feel sorry for, they probably believe wholeheartedly that she just had a "foolish" moment while on holiday, instead of consorting alone in a foreign country with the scumbags who she should have crossed the street to avoid.
Flame all you like, I won't back down.

FAQinglovely · 04/05/2009 16:33

really the law in Laos say that it's ok to be (apparently) raped while in prison???

Catz · 04/05/2009 16:37

Aphrodite I don't doubt what you say about the situation generally but there are hardly any details of this case in the press. It sounds as if her lawyers know virtually nothing and nor do the consulate who have only seen her for 20 mins a month for the last few months. For all we know the bag may have wrongly been identified as hers, she might not have known what she was carrying the drugs may have been planted on her etc. The problem is that the court system there does not sound as if it is designed to find the truth. At best you see a lawyer a week before the trial, here it looks as if the trial will be over before she even meets her lawyers. Goodness knows whether she will be given help in understanding the proceedings in a foreign language and making her case. How, in that situation, can you ever say that she has been proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.

FAQinglovely · 04/05/2009 16:38

and of course in a country which allows a pg woman to remain in prison for months before any of her countries officials are alerted would never ever trump up charges against anyone.

She may well be guilty of the crime she's being arrested for - but there is always the possibility that allows her to be raped in prison could trump up charges against her.