British woman 'facing death penalty' for taking painkillers to Egypt

'She's like a zombie,' the Laura Plummer's brother has said.

1 min read

08 November, 2017

Laura Plummer's hair is 'falling out from stress' as she languishes in jail [AFP]

A British woman languishing in an Egyptian prison after she was arrested for carrying painkillers into the country may face the death penalty.

Laura Plummer's family are worried about her health, which they say has deteriorated since she was arrested carrying Tramadol to help her Egyptian husband's back pain.

"She is like a zombie," said James Plummer, Laura's brother, after the family were able to visit her in jail.

Plummer's family say she is struggling to handle life in an Egyptian prison, with her hair falling out from stress.

Plummer was detained by authorities at Hurghada airport early last month. She was forced to sign a 38-page statement, written in Arabic, which she thought would lead to her being able to leave the airport.

Instead, she was sent to a 15ft by 15ft prison cell with 25 other women.

Her brother James said the family had been informed she could face the death penalty or up to 25 years in jail.

The government in Cairo is notorious for its crackdown on human rights and for conducting arbitrary arrests.

In addition to arresting tourists, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International, Egypt has "used mass arbitrary arrests to suppress demonstrations and dissent, detaining journalists, human rights defenders and protesters, and restricted the activities of human rights organisations".