BY ERIC KING
A 21 year old student who embarked on a budget tour to Pyongyang- North Korea’s capital- has been convicted of subversion and by the land’s highest court and been sentenced him to 15 years of prison and hard labor.
His offense is stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel- an offence that seems too trivial to even warrant a 3 months jail term anywhere in the world.
“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 Human Rights Watch, in a statement. “Pyongyang should recognize this student’s self-admitted mistake as a misdemeanor offense that it would be in most countries, release him on humanitarian grounds and send him home.”
AMNESTY
The White House has called on North Korea to release Warmbier immediately, urging the country to grant him special amnesty.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the allegations against Warmbier “would not give rise to arrest or imprisonment in the United States or in just about any other country in the world. “It is increasingly clear that the North Korean government seeks to use these U.S. citizens as pawns to pursue a political agenda.”
The University of Virginia student was detained in early January while attempting to depart Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. His detention was only made public last month, as the United States was taking the lead in pushing for tough sanctions following the North’s fourth nuclear test
After being paraded in front of diplomats and the national media in North Korea in Pyongyang, the American read a confession and made a public apology. He admitted stealing the propaganda poster on behalf of a member of the Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, who wanted it “as a trophy,” and promised him a used car worth $10,000.
In a clip reminiscent of the terrorist beheading of journalists last year that sent shock waves round the world, he wept and pleaded for his release , apologising for making “the worst mistake of my life.” Indeed, his mistake was a big one, because there never really is ever an excuse or justification for stealing. Stealing fails to take into account the feelings and loss incurred to the rightful owner of any given property. In this respect he has paid a high price, and will learn a hard lesson. However, the North Korean authorities are going too far in this one, playing politics with someone’s life. His family must be going through a nightmare right now. The truth is that this American is not innocent, but the punishment being meted out is excessive compared with the crime. How can they sentence him to fifteen years? Surely, there is no way he will do even one year behind bars, or will he?
Let’s just hope the American authorities do something drastic to get him out of there. You never know, this dude may eventually write a book and become rich. I think he will.
