Drug trial of pregnant UK woman opens in Laos

The trial against a pregnant British woman on heroin trafficking charges opened today, in a case that has raised questions about how she managed to conceive while behind bars.

Samantha Orobator, 20, was arrested last August, but her case did not draw international attention until news of her pregnancy became public in early May amid concerns that she could be executed by firing squad if found guilty.

The Laos government days later confirmed that under the country's criminal law, a pregnant woman cannot receive the death penalty, but officials delayed her scheduled trial date in May because of questions about how she became pregnant.

Orobator arrived in court wearing a blue prison outfit and smiling to reporters. She was escorted by female prison guards but was not in handcuffs or ankle chains. Security around the courthouse was tight.

Police said they found 680 grams of heroin in 68 capsules on Orobator's body when she was arrested at Vientiane airport on her way to Australia. The British legal charity Reprieve says the drugs were found in Orobator's luggage. The Nigerian-born Orobator has said she is innocent.

Even if convicted, Orobator may not spend much time in a Lao jail. A deal struck between British and Laotian officials could allow Orobator to serve any jail sentence in Britain. Lao officials, however, could still veto her return.

According to Lao officials, Orobator initially told authorities she was pregnant by her boyfriend in England, but tests after she was arrested showed no signs of pregnancy.

It was not until March 2 that a hospital test showed she was pregnant, verified by a second test April 4, police said. That meant she must have gotten pregnant while in prison, they said.

Orobator's mother recently said her daughter had not been raped by prison officials or fellow prisoners, as some media had reported.

The Vientiane Times yesterday quoted police as saying Orobator told authorities she secretly obtained sperm from a fellow prisoner to impregnate herself to avoid the death penalty. The state-run newspaper did not name the sources or give other details.

Orobator's mother Jane has said her daughter told her that she had not been sexually assaulted while in prison and that the father of her unborn child was not a Lao prison official.

Jane Orobator did not reveal the identity of the father, however.

An earlier Vientiane Times report said Dr Bouavanh Sengsathit, director of the National Mother and Child Health Hospital, had listed self-impregnation as one of several theories.