LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said Saturday it would raise the case of a pregnant British woman, who faces the death penalty in Laos if convicted of drug smuggling, when its foreign minister meets the Laotian deputy prime minister next week.Britain would do what it could to ensure Samantha Orobator, 20, would not face the death penalty if found guilty at the upcoming trial and provide consular help so she received good legal assistance, Foreign Minister Bill Rammell said."The British government is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances," Rammell said in a statement, ahead of Thursday's meeting in London."We have made the Laos authorities aware of this at the highest levels in Samantha's case, as we do in all cases where a British national faces charges that carry the death penalty or has been sentenced to death."Orobator from south London was arrested at Wattay Airport in August last year accused of smuggling heroin into the country, the Foreign Office said.British legal charity Reprieve said she was carrying 0.6 kg (1.3lbs) of the drug, an amount that exceeded the statutory minimum for the death penalty in Laos.Reprieve says Orobator, who fell pregnant in December while in prison, faced a hastily-arranged trial next week and if found guilty, a death sentence."By scheduling her trial for next week, the Laos court has made it impossible for any lawyer to prepare an adequate defence," the group said in a statement."If convicted next week, Samantha would face death by firing squad. Samantha is severely distressed, and Reprieve has grave concerns for her health and that of her unborn child."
