WASHINGTON (AP & WINA) – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, an American serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts.
Tillerson says that Warmbier is on his way back to the U.S. to be re-united with his family. He says in a statement that the State Department secured Warmbier’s release at the direction of President Donald Trump. Tillerson says the State Department continues discussing three other detained Americans with North Korea.
Tillerson in a statement to Congress would not discuss Warmbier’s condition “out of respect to him and the family”. However, The Washington Post reports his parents telling them that it is a “medical evacuation”. The Post reports his parents saying Warmbier went into a coma soon after the trial convicting and sentencing him after botulism poisoning. He is expected back in the U.S. tonight.
University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan released the following statement today regarding the release of UVA student Otto Warmbier from North Korea. Warmbier, who would have graduated from the University in May, had been detained in North Korea since January 2016.
“While the entire University of Virginia community is relieved to learn of Otto’s release from North Korea, we are deeply concerned and saddened to learn from his family that he is in a coma. The last 17 months have been an extremely difficult and emotionally trying time for the Warmbier family. The UVA family will continue to keep the Warmbiers in our thoughts and prayers as Otto returns to the United States and his home where he will receive the care and support of those who love him.”
The announcement comes as former NBA player Dennis Rodman is paying a return visit to North Korea.
Warmbier is a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati. He was sentenced in March 2016 after a televised tearful public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner.
