Tuesday, May 26, 2009

death penalty



this uk woman was jailed in Laos back in August for drug smuggling... and somehow she is now 5 months pregnant. (and she could possibly face execution, although with international pressure, that is seeming much less likely now.) as the title of the linked article says, this really calls Laos's criminal justice system into question. apparently, Laos officials are opening an investigation into how exactly she got pregnant (something the rest of us learned in 6th grade health class, or from our parents if we were lucky,) and are continuing to insist that she wasn't raped or impregnated by a guard, but that she was already pregnant back when she was jailed, or some immaculate conception kinda thing...

this is kinda old news now, so many of you have probably already heard about this. several articles were posted about it; the most recent saying that the uk will bring her home to serve out her sentence there. here are some links:

this is the older link - from cnn:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/laos.british.woman.drugs.trial/index.html

the more recent link that i referenced above:
http://www.worldlatestnews.com/world-news/pregnant-british-inmate-puts-laos-justice-system-on-trial

3 comments:

NOTSONUTSO said...

I think I read that she is going to be released (due to international outcry which is sometimes effective). I love your commentary on the story. Just think of the horrible atrocities that have occurred world-wide all the years before 24 hour news coverage, including internet.

jrm said...

thanks wl. i think the last article i posted said that she will be transferred to UK custody to complete her sentence there. and as for the second commenter: thanks, i know exactly how you feel.

NOTSONUTSO said...

Yeah, I heard that recently. That is great news for her. She would have been in Thailand for a long time. I also heard they think she had a "sperm donation" while in prison (no conjugal visits were possible) as a plan to help her escape the death penalty. I'm guessing it worked.

Can you please translate the previous post?