A University of Virginia student detained in North Korea has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in prison during a one-hour trial Wednesday morning at the North’s Supreme Court.
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Otto Warmbier, a 21-year old undergraduate from Cincinnati, Ohio, was convicted of allegedly attempting to steal a propaganda banner at a hotel he was staying at while on vacation in Pyongyang.
He later appeared on state TV apparently confessing and saying a church group had asked him to bring back a “trophy” from his trip.
“North Korea’s sentencing of Otto Warmbier to 15 years hard labor for a college-style prank is outrageous and shocking”, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the Human Rights Watch.
“Despite official claims that USA citizens arrested in the DPRK are not used for political purposes, it’s increasingly clear from its very public treatment of these cases that the DPRK does exactly that”, Toner told reporters, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Three weeks later, North Korea had announced that it was holding Warmbier for a “hostile act” against the state.
Video also showed Warmbier pleading for his release and breaking down in tears, calling the incident “the worst mistake of my life”.
The court held that he had committed a crime “pursuant to the USA government’s hostile policy toward [the North], in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist”, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
“His detention was completely unjustified and the sentence North Korea imposed on him is an affront to concepts of justice”, Kasich said. US tourist travel to North Korea is legal, but is strongly discouraged by the State Department.
Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller are the most recent American detainees whom North Korea has released.
We reached out to Young Pioneer Tours and they said out of respect to Otto, his family and the ongoing situation, they are not offering any comment.
The US’s efforts to help Warmbier are complicated by having no diplomatic relations with North Korea.
The pair secured their freedom in late 2014.
Observers said the harsh sentence was likely a reflection of soaring military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch a month later.
Last week, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea.
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At U-Va., Warmbier was selected as an Echols Scholar, a special four-year academic program for fewer than 250 students in each class. Those chosen are described as “intellectual risk-takers” who have shown “academic excellence, intellectual leadership, and evidence of the ability to grapple with complex topics”, according to the university’s website.
