WOMAN FREED FROM BANGLADESH PRISON WARNS AGAINST SMUGGLING.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The day after she was freed from a Bangladesh prison, where she served 4-1/2 years on drug smuggling smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been adopted as an instrument of national policy, as by Great Britain charges, an American woman returned to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and acknowledged that she had known she was carrying heroin, despite her plea of innocence. She said her story should serve as a cautionary tale A cautionary tale is a traditional story told in folklore, to warn its hearer of a danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. for other young people. ``Don't take the risk,'' said 23-year-old Eliadah ``Lia'' McCord, of Houston. Arriving at Dulles International Airport, McCord rushed into the arms of her tearful mother, Sylvia McCord, who embraced her and said, ``My baby.'' Her daughter replied: ``It's over. I'm OK.'' Accompanied by Rep. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., who helped secure her release, McCord thanked him, the U.S. Embassy and the government of Bangladesh for her freedom. Sentenced to life imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. in mid-1993, McCord was pardoned this week by President Abdur Rahman Biswas. American authorities had been working behind the scenes to secure the release of McCord, the first U.S. citizen to be sentenced to life imprisonment in Bangladesh. Richardson, who traveled to Bangladesh earlier this year to intercede on McCord's behalf, flew there this week to escort her home. Her release came after Richardson met with Prime Minister Sheikh sheikh or shaykh Among Arabic-speaking tribes, especially Bedouin, the male head of the family, as well as of each successively larger social unit making up the tribal structure. The sheikh is generally assisted by an informal tribal council of male elders. Hasina. ``She made a mistake at 18 years,'' Richardson said, adding that her cooperation with law enforcement authorities resulted in the arrests of several drug traffickers in Bangladesh. ``She was a model prisoner,'' Richardson said. ``She's suffered enough.'' The one-time honor roll student was arrested in 1992 while trying to fly out of Dhaka, the nation's capital, with 7 pounds of heroin concealed beneath her flowing dress. She pleaded not guilty, saying a Nigerian man she had met during her two-week visit compelled her to carry four packets of heroin. She testified she did not know the packets contained drugs. A special court convicted and sentenced her and the Nigerian, Robert Blankson, to life in prison. Unlike McCord, Blankson didn't appeal his sentence. But speaking to reporters at Dulles, McCord acknowledged that she had known all along she was carrying heroin and that she did so because she was ``lured'' by the promise of $10,000. She wanted the quick payoff to help her family and to pay her college expenses, she said. ``I started out trying to help them, and then I sent them all this misery,'' sobbed McCord. She warned other young people not to take the risk she took. ``They'll flash the money in front of you . . . but they never mention the low side,'' she said. ```I have lost four and a half years.'' She said her incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. was ``long and hot and lonely.'' The prison was infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: with rats, roaches and mosquitoes, and living conditions were very primitive, she said. McCord and her mother said they would spend the night in Washington before flying today to Houston, where the rest of the family was waiting. ``We have a second chance to make it better,'' McCord's mother said. The McCord family had treated word of McCord's release gingerly. Their hopes for her freedom were dashed July 4, when the Supreme Court of Bangladesh The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of a High Court division and an Appellate division, and was created by Part VI Chapter I of the Constitution of Bangladesh. overturned a lower court ruling that would have freed her. |
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