Egypt jail hell Brit Laura Plummer hugged by family as she waits to be freed
EGYPT jail hell Brit Laura Plummer was hugged by her family yesterday as she waited to be freed.
Laura, 33, mum Roberta Synclair, 63, and sister Jayne Synclair, 40, were reunited at Al Qanater prison in Cairo.
She was jailed for three years on Boxing Day after being arrested at Hurghada in October with 290 tramadol painkillers she said were for her Egyptian husband’s bad back.
The country’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardoned her last week and she was due to be freed. But red tape could still take several days to process.
Laura, of Hull, said: “I don’t know what's happening. I don’t understand what the hold-up is.
“It’s like you take one step forward then two back. I shouldn’t be here. This is my worst nightmare.”
[bc_video video_id="5695523105001" account_id="5067014667001" player_id="default" embed="in-page"; caption="Brit Pete Farmer on how he was locked up in cockroach infested jail in Egypt like Laura Plummer "]
Mum Roberta said: “It was lovely to see her but it's hard to know what to say to her because of the confusion and the delay.
“We understand that it can take time because she is a foreign prisoner but it’s torture waiting for the news we’ve been praying for.”
Laura was caught with 290 tramadol in her case at the start of a holiday in October.
The pills, given to her by a friend, are legal in the UK on prescription, but banned in Egypt.
She told cops they were for her Egyptian husband Omar Saad, 33, who has a bad back.
But prosecutors refused to believe he existed and were convinced she was a lone drug smuggler — leaving her facing the prospect of the death penalty.
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The Sun revealed her plight in November and went on to obtain crucial evidence that proved she had been telling the truth.
But Hull shop worker Laura was sentenced to three years and taken to Al Qanater Prison in Cairo.
As lawyers worked on an appeal, her family pinned their hopes on a pardon.
President el-Sisi rarely issues them to foreign prisoners.
But he made the decision to do so for Laura as Egypt marked the anniversary of the 2011 revolution with a national holiday.
Laura’s younger sister Rachel, 31, said: “We never expected this, not in our wildest dreams.”
Jayne added: “We were worried Laura would be forgotten, but The Sun made sure that never happened and we’ll forever be grateful.”