Otto Warmbier

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Otto Frederick Warmbier (born December 12, 1994 in Cincinnati , Ohio , † June 19, 2017 ) was an American student who was sentenced to 15 years in a labor camp in North Korea in March 2016 after he was accused of being a Propaganda banner stolen. He was released to the United States in June 2017, in a vegetative state , where he died a few days later.

Life

Warmbier grew up as the eldest of three children in a family of Jewish faith . His father Fred Warmbier is the owner of a metalworking company.

In 2013, Warmbier graduated from high school in Wyoming , a suburb of Cincinnati , Ohio , finishing second in its class. He then studied economics at the University of Virginia , where he was an active member of the Jewish student organization Hillel .

Arrested and sentenced in North Korea

The Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang , where the theft is said to have taken place

In December 2015, Warmbier traveled with a Chinese tour operator as part of a group of ten tourists for a five-day stay in North Korea over the turn of the year . He previously stayed in China and then wanted to spend a semester abroad in Hong Kong .

On January 2, 2016, shortly before the planned return flight, he was arrested at Pyongyang Airport for "hostile activities" because he was alleged to have tried to steal a propaganda banner from the staff area of ​​the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang .

On February 29, 2016 Warmbier confessed his act at a press conference and described it as "very difficult and planned". He took the banner from the wall. Since it was "much bigger and heavier" than expected, he then realized that he could not steal it and put the banner on the ground. He further stated that he wanted to commit the theft to the mother of a friend who wanted to install the banner as a souvenir on a church wall in his home town of Wyoming and him for a used car worth 10,000 dollars had been offered; if he were arrested in North Korea and had to stay there, his mother would be paid $ 200,000. According to Spiegel Online assessment, it was an "apparently forced appearance".

On March 16, 2016, the North Korean Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years in a labor camp.

Two hours before judgment was the former governor of New Mexico , Bill Richardson , tried in vain during a meeting with two North Korean diplomats to obtain warm beer release.

Warmbier is said to have confessed his act in court with the following words:

“I never, never should have allowed myself to be lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country, I wish that the United States administration never manipulate people like myself in the future to commit crimes against foreign countries. I entirely beg you, the people and government of the DPRK, for your forgiveness. Please! I made the worst mistake of my life! "

“I should never, never have allowed myself to let the US government lure me into committing a crime in this country. I hope that in the future the US government will not manipulate people like me into committing crimes against foreign countries. I sincerely ask you, the people and government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, for your forgiveness. You're welcome! I made the worst mistake of my life! "

- Otto Warmbier

The correctness of the content and the voluntariness of the confession were consistently questioned in Western media, and the trial was viewed as a show trial .

Ria Westergaard Pedersen, a Danish journalist who had been to North Korea with Otto Warmbier's tour group, doubted in a later interview that Warmbier had committed a criminal act. On other occasions he was cautious and nervous about not breaking the rules. He was simply picked out by the North Koreans as a young American who was fit for propaganda photos in order to be presented as a scapegoat to the world public.

Repatriation and death

Warmbier was released on June 13, 2017, in a coma vegetative state, on "humanitarian grounds" in the United States . Previously, there were diplomatic efforts by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Swedish State Department , which represents the interests of the United States in North Korea. According to North Korean sources, Warmbier fell ill with botulism , food poisoning, shortly after his trial in 2016 and is said to have fallen into a coma after being given a sleeping pill , from which he did not wake until he was transferred to the United States. After being returned to the United States, Warmbier was diagnosed with extensive damage to brain tissue . His American doctors assume that the cause of the brain damage is cardiac arrest and the resulting insufficient supply of the brain with oxygen, because no nerve damage typical of botulism poisoning could be detected. Warmbier could breathe, open his eyes and blink uncontrollably during the examinations, but showed no reactions to his surroundings.

According to a Washington Post media report in April 2019, North Korea had demanded $ 2 million for accrued medical expenses as a condition for Warmbier's return; the special envoy Joseph Yun had signed a corresponding agreement in coordination with US President Donald Trump . It is not known whether this amount actually went.

Otto Warmbier's father criticized the fact that he had not received any information about his son from the North Korean side for 15 months.

Warmbier died on June 19, 2017. At the request of his parents, no autopsy took place.

Reactions

Otto Warmbier's family as well as US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson blamed North Korea for the student's death. Tillerson announced consequences and demanded the release of three more US citizens.

The Chinese travel agency Young Pioneer Tours , headquartered in Xi'an , removed trips by US citizens to North Korea from its program. China also criticized the incident unusually harshly and loosened censorship guidelines in its social networks.

North Korea officially commented on the case for the first time on June 23, 2017 in a text by the state news agency KCNA and denied having tortured Warmbier or treated it cruelly. A State Department spokesman was quoted as saying that Warmbier died immediately after returning to the USA. He is "a victim of the policy of strategic patience" of the former US President Barack Obama , because his administration never asked for the student's release. Critics who "have absolutely no idea how well we treated Warmbier under humanitarian conditions" accused North Korea of ​​mistreatment and torture instead. He was dealt with in accordance with national law and international standards.

The coroner Lakshmi Sammarco, who examined Warmbier's body in June, contradicted the parents' statements at the end of September 2017 that Otto Warmbier had been tortured in North Korea. She said there was no clear evidence of physical abuse.

As of August 2017, citizens of the United States of America will no longer be allowed to travel to North Korea following a decision by US President Donald Trump . This does not apply to US citizens who also have a foreign passport valid for North Korea .

In April 2018, the Warmbiers family brought a lawsuit against North Korea in a federal court in Washington for "brutal torture and murder". The federal court upheld the lawsuit and sentenced North Korea in December 2018 to $ 500 million in damages for "torture, hostage-taking and killing of the young man"; the court said in its ruling that North Korea took Warmbier as a political prisoner and diplomatic bargaining chip and tortured him, which resulted in his death. However, the judgment is only symbolic for the family, as they cannot force North Korea to pay. In 2019, Warmbier's parents claimed the North Korean tanker Wise Honest, which was confiscated in Indonesia in 2018 .

On the occasion of the press conference after the North Korea-USA summit on June 12, 2018 in Singapore, US President Trump stated that the circumstances of Warmbier's death were one of the reasons for the upcoming diplomacy and the Singapore summit with North Korea: "It would be without Otto not happen here. Something happened that day. ”North Korea also noticed at the time that things couldn't go on like this. After the summit in Hanoi on February 27 and 28, 2019, Trump said: “Some really bad things happened to Otto. But Kim tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word. " This sparked indignant reactions across all parties in the United States.

documentation

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Susan Svrluga, Anna Fifield: Otto Warmbier the days after release from North Korean detainment. In: The Washington Post online. June 19, 2017 (English).
  2. ^ What happened to Otto Frederick Warmbier. In: Gazette Review. Retrieved June 14, 2017 (English).
  3. ↑ Introducing A Small Business Owner Who Discovered Growth Is A Blessing And A Curse. In: Forbes online. September 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ Solveig Bach: Who was Otto Warmbier? In: n-tv.de . 20th June 2017.
  5. ↑ Britta Kollenbroich: Chronology of a fatal North Korea trip. In: Spiegel Online , June 20, 2017.
  6. ^ North Korea arrests US student for 'hostile act'. In: bbc.com. BBC , January 22, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  7. ^ Voice of Korea: Full Press Conference with US Student Otto Frederick Warmbier in North Korea (only English) (from 0:23:30) on YouTube
  8. ↑ Public confession: North Korea shows arrested US citizens. In: Spiegel Online. February 29, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016 .
  9. ↑ American student sentenced to 15 years in a labor camp. In: FAZ.NET . March 16, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  10. ^ N. Korea Sentences American Student To 15 Years Of Prison, Hard Labor. In: National Public Radio online. March 16, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  11. ^ Rowan Beard: Otto Warmbier - Jail Sentence Statement. In: youngpioneertours.com. March 16, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  12. ^ Tiffany Ap, Brian Todd: North Korea sentences US student to 15 years hard labor. In: CNN online. March 17, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Anna Fifield, Susan Svrluga, Carol Morello: North Korea sentences U-Va. student to 15 years of hard labor in prison. In: The Washington Post online. March 16, 2016, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Martin Benninghoff: The case of Otto Warmbier. In: FAZ.NET , June 15, 2017.
  15. ↑ Thomas Seibert, Benedikt Voigt: An adventure that ended as a tragedy. In: Der Tagesspiegel online , June 20, 2017.
  16. ↑ Frank Herrmann: "We will hold North Korea accountable" . In: Rp-online.de , June 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ 'Otto Warmbier wouldn't have broken law' in North Korea. In: BBC News online. June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 .
  18. ↑ US student Otto Warmbier has died. In: Der Tagesspiegel online , June 19, 2017.
  19. ↑ Susan Svrluga, Anna Fifield: University of Virginia student Otto Warm beer, Said to be in a coma, released from North Korea. In: The Washington Post online , June 13, 2017.
  20. ^ After release: Otto Warmbier apparently suffered severe brain injuries. In: Süddeutsche.de , June 15, 2017.
  21. ↑ Released prisoner: US student Warmbier suffered severe brain injuries in North Korea. In: stern.de , June 15, 2017.
  22. ↑ Severe brain damage - and nobody knows why. In: Zeit Online , June 16, 2017.
  23. ↑ North Korea apparently issued hospital bills to the US for warm beer ; Spiegel Online from April 25, 2019: accessed April 26, 2019
  24. ↑ Otto Warmbier's father doubts N Korea story on son's coma. In: BBC News online. June 16, 2017, accessed June 16, 2017 .
  25. ↑ Otto Warmbier's body is not autopsied. In: Süddeutsche.de , June 21, 2017.
  26. ↑ After imprisonment in North Korea: US student Otto Warmbier died ( memento of the original from June 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Zeit Online . 20th June 2017.
  27. ↑ Martin Beninnghoff: The delicate business with North Korea Travel . In: FAZ.NET . 20th June 2017.
  28. ↑ Bernhard Zand: "What North Korea has done is inhuman" . In: Spiegel Online . June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  29. ↑ Dead US student - North Korea denies mistreatment of warm beer. In: Spiegel Online. June 23, 2016, accessed June 24, 2016 .
  30. ↑ "His death is a mystery to us," In: Welt.de . June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  31. ↑ No traces of torture on the body. The doctor contradicts Warmbier's parents. In: n-tv.de. September 28, 2017, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  32. ↑ USA prohibits travel to North Korea. In: tagesschau.de , July 21, 2017.
  33. ^ Nicola Smith: Trump administration bans US travel to North Korea following the death of Otto Warmbier. In: The Daily Telegraph online , July 21, 2017.
  34. ^ "Brutal torture and murder": Otto Warmbier's parents are suing North Korea. Retrieved April 27, 2018 .
  35. ↑ North Korea is said to pay 500 million to the von Warmbier family
  36. ↑ Otto Warmbier: North Korea is to pay $ 500 million to the von Warmbier family. Retrieved December 25, 2018 .
  37. ↑ Deceased US student: North Korea is said to pay $ 500 million to the Warmbier family . In: Spiegel Online . December 24, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 25, 2018]).
  38. ↑ Otto Warmbier's parents lay claim to North Korean tankers. Spiegel online from July 5, 2019
  39. ↑ Watson.ch : Kim Jong-Un meets Donald Trump in Singapore. The summit in the live ticker. , accessed June 12, 2018
  40. ↑ theguardian.com , video
  41. ↑ zeit.de March 1, 2019: Outraged reactions to Donald Trump's statements about Otto Warmbier
personal data
SURNAME Warm beer, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Warmbier, Otto Frederick (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION american student
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1994
PLACE OF BIRTH Cincinnati , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH 19th June 2017
Place of death Cincinnati , Ohio