Phonthong Prison (ຄຸກໂພນຕ້ອງ), known as the "Foreigners Prison", is a mixed gender prison near
Vientiane
Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...
,
Laos.
The prison is used to hold non-Laotian prisoners.
History
In Laos, there are four categories of prisoners: 1) common criminals, 2) political deviants, 3) social deviants, and 4) ideological deviants. In 2000–2001, Phonthong Prison received media attention when Australians
Kerry and Kay Danes
Kerry Arthur Danes (a former Australian Army soldier born 21 October 1958 Longreach, Queensland) and wife Kay Frances Danes née Stewart (born 20 October 1967 Wynnum, Queensland) were imprisoned in Laos as civilians on 23 December 2000 and later ...
were incarcerated and sentenced to seven years for embezzlement, tax evasion, and destruction of evidence. The Australian government intervened, and a pardon was granted.
In August 2008, Briton
Samantha Orobator
Samantha Orobator (born 23 August 1988 in Nigeria) is a British drug trafficker whose trial had international repercussions. She was arrested in Laos in August 2008, found guilty and sentence to for life to Phonthong Prison. Her case attracted p ...
was arrested with 680 grams of heroin and became pregnant while in Phonthong. In June 2009, she was sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed te ...
.
Lao law prescribed the death penalty for drug smuggling, but Orobator
avoided this sentence due to her pregnancy. In August 2009, she was repatriated to the UK to serve the balance of her sentence. In due course, Orobator was released subject to a life licence.
The England and Wales High Court ruled that she had not suffered a "flagrant denial of justice".
See also
*
Punishment in Laos This page is about the Laotian Penal System.
Trials
In 2002, it was reported that the normal function of a defence lawyer in a Laotian court was to argue mitigating circumstances and the extent of the defendant's co-operation before asking for cl ...
References
Prisons in Laos
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