OK, my turn to throw in my 2 cents worth...hang on while I put on my fire-retardant suit....Now I will be playing Devil's Advocate here for this post, trying to look at things from an outside perspective.
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Regardless, considering the situation, I'd like to see her extradited to Britain, where she should face criminal charges under British law. If she's guilty, it's really unfortunate because I'm assuming it'll mean her child will become a ward of the state.
Unless I'm mistaken, under British law, the maximum penalty for trafficking heroin is life imprisonment and a hefty fine.
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Why should she be extradited to GB and tried? Does GB have the market cornered for the laws regarding drug trafficking in Laos? By what you stated above, you indicate that you believe that a person traveling into another country should be held only to the laws of their home country, and not the laws of where they travel to. While I agree that their punishment is extreme, it IS their law, and we do not have the right to go in and tell them that we don't have to follow them, because we disagree with them.
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2 - I do not support the execution of women. Capital punishment does not exist as a deterrent (all evidence show that it doesnt work), nor do I believe in any kind of eye for an eye frontier justice. Capital punishment to me is a cleansing ritual, by which the criminals who commit the worst crimes must be sacrificed to cleanse society of the evil of their crimes It is simply not appropriate to execute women. Society becomes warped and blood thirsty when it stoops to this level. Men and woman DO have different roles in the relationships that they have, and in society. The male role is to protect the female from physical harm, when the state (male) violates this to assault society (female) we are in a state of open madness and the state has failed.
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I would honestly like to see evidence proving it is not a deterrent. While I agree that even in places where capital punishment is used, and crimes are still committed, there is no way to tell for sure it does not deter it. For example, Country "A" has a capital punishment law, but 500 capital offenses are still committed each year. How can we know that if you took capital punishment away, that that number wouldn't increase to 5000 offenses a day? There is no way to prove it, without actually doing it, and you are going to be hard pressed to find a country that would take such a big risk.
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1 -The law in Laos in this case is invalid (it is against international human rights standards acknowledged by the civilised world to execute people who have committed non violent crimes.
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So just because the rest of the world says it is wrong means that every country cant make their own laws? they just have to follow what "civilized" people do? Sorry, but I feel that is a weak argument.
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2 - The woman has not even be given the legal rights which should be afforded in Laos (she has not been allowed access to a lawyer)
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Have you checked the laws in Laos? It may be that in their country, those accused of a crime are not given the opportunity to have a lawyer. While I disagree with Laotian law if that is the case, again, this is in Laos, NOT G.B.
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3 - The woman has been abused in prison
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Agreed, this IS a horrible situation at best.
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4 - She is 20 years old and pregnant Even in the the most barbaric of medieval societies a female criminal could "plead her belly" and be allowed to be free if pregnant. It is abhorent to human decency to educate a pregnan women
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And in a case such as this, one could argue that there could e a stay of execution, until after the baby is born. (remember, I said I am playind Devil's Advocate here.
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5 - Whether people like it or not, Laos is a weak country and the UK is a relatively strong one. The Laos govt must be informed that they are running a very havy risk here. The British people will demand retlation if one of our citizens is shot down like a stray dog in this way.. the govt may well not be able to contain the people's feelings. Certainly all aid will be cut to Laos, and a trade embargo placed on them. The Govt of Laos will be defined as a criminal body and any assets held in the UK will be siezed immediately. Going to war probably isnt an option, but there are many other penalties which are possible.
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I got the biggest laugh here on this one. GB is one of the biggest countries out there that chastize the US when we get involved in other countries affairs, yet you say it is OK for GB to do this to a smaller country because they are bigger than them? Kinda a pot calling the kettle black I think.