Secretary Tillerson announced Tuesday that detained Cincinnati student, Otto Warmbier has been released from jail in North Korea and is on his way back to the United States.
North Korean authorities claimed Warmbier had a state poster in his luggage when he was departing the country. He was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor.
From NBC:
North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, the American student serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged subversion, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.The 22-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate, from Cincinnati, Ohio, was convicted in March 2016 of attempting to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel at the request of an acquaintance.He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor after a tearful one-hour trial.In a statement, the State Department said Warmbier was “en route to the U.S. where he will be reunited with his family,” adding it would have no further comment on his case, citing privacy concerns.It said the department “continues to have discussions with [North Korea] regarding the three other American citizens who are detained.”The Washington Post reported that Warmbier was medically evacuated from the isolated state in a coma, citing his parents, although this report could not be independently confirmed by NBC News. The student was evacuated via a U.S. military base in Sapporo, Japan, the newspaper said.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY