Laura Plummer latest news – when was she released in Egypt, where is Cairo's Al Qanater prison and what is Tramadol?
She has now been freed after 14 months in prison, after being found to have nearly 300 Tramadol pills in her suitcase. Here's why she was finally released…
Who is Laura Plummer, why was she arrested and when was she jailed?
Laura Plummer, from Hull, was arrested in Egypt after 290 Tramadol tablets and some naproxen were found in her suitcase.
The 34-year-old shop worker was detained at Hurghada international airport on suspicion of trafficking drugs on October 9, 2017.
She said she was transporting the pills for her Egyptian husband Omar Abd El Azim, 31, who suffers from back pain following a car crash.
She claims she was unaware the drug – sometimes used as a heroin substitute – were banned in Egypt.
Laura was jailed for three years on Boxing Day 2017 after being found guilty of drug possession.
She reportedly married her Egyptian lover Omar by signing a form after meeting at the Red Sea holiday resort of Hurghada, where he was the entertainments manager.
It emerged her Egyptian "husband" had another wife and other girlfriends.
Her husband spoke out about Plummer's ordeal, saying it's "all his fault".
Speaking after her conviction, the lifeguard told the Daily Mail: "I’m the reason for what happened because she brought this especially for me."
Why was Laura pardoned and when did she get released?
Following a Sun campaign, the Brit was freed on January 27, 2019, after 14 months of hell in an Egyptian jail.
She was granted a presidential pardon and moved to a police station.
Laura also made a brief appearance in court where the paperwork for her release and deportation was approved.
She was due to begin her journey home to Hull on January 28.
Laura, speaking from the police station, wept as she said: “The Sun has saved my life.
"I don’t know what I would have done without your help. I dread to think what would have happened.
“I’m so happy to be going home. I mean, who goes on holiday for two weeks and then stays 14 months?”
“I just wish I wasn’t being deported. But I promise you — I’ll never set foot in an airport again.”
And as she headed home following her presidential pardon on January 28, she told The Sun that she was marched into the airport terminal by police and not allowed to say goodbye to hubby Omar Saad, 34.
Laura initially thought she'd walk free weeks after she was jailed after appearing on a pardon list issued by Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last January.
Her nightmare
OCT 9, 2017: Laura flies out for a two-week holiday to see Egyptian husband Omar and is stopped by customs.
They find 290 Tramadol painkillers in her luggage.
NOV 1: She tells prosecutors the pills were for Omar’s back pain.
NOV 10: The Sun provides dossier of evidence backing her story.
XMAS DAY: Laura appears in court and pleads guilty by mistake after a mix-up in translation.
BOXING DAY: She is sentenced to three years in jail.
JAN 15, 2018: Laura is visited by her family and tells them: “I want to die.” Foreign Office raises fears about her mental state.
SEPT 22: Laura loses her appeal against the drugs conviction.
JAN 27, 2019: Laura is freed by presidential pardon
Laura said she "couldn't wait to get home" but a day later, the pardon was withdrawn and the British Embassy in Cairo informed her heartbroken mum Roberta, 63, there had been a "mistake".
The Sun continued to push for her freedom and at an appeal evidence was submitted which showed she could not have known the Tramadol tablets were illegal.
Where is Al Qanater prison?
Laura was held in Al Qanater prison, which is in Cairo.
She was locked up 24 hours a day in a 5m x 3m cockroach-infested cell with several other women prisoners with only a blanket to keep her warm.
Books and radios are banned and inmates are regularly subjected to humiliating strip searches and body inspections.
Roberta said her daughter was being held in terrible conditions in a communal cell with no beds, sharing with up to 25 other women.
Laura also had to wear a standard issue all-white prison dress called a jilbab.
Overcrowded Al Qanater, the largest women's prison in Egypt, holds up to 1,100 inmates, more than double its capacity.
Family are allowed to visit but can only do so at 15-day intervals and for only 15 minutes at a time.
Its conditions have previously been slammed by human rights experts.
What is Tramadol and why is it illegal in Egypt?
In Britain, Tramadol is prescription-only, but it is banned in Egypt where addicts use it as a heroin substitute.
The opioid painkiller, which increases alertness and numbs pain, is often given after surgery for toothache or for long-term conditions.
Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity, which runs helplines for addicts, listed Tramadol as the most abused drug in 2017 – ahead of cannabis and heroin.
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