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A Washington court sentenced North Korea on Monday (December 24th) to pay $ 501 million for its responsibility for the death of US student Otto Warmbier, who found he had been tortured.
Otto Warmbier died on June 13, 2017 at the age of 22, after being repatriated to a coma in North Korea where he had been detained for 18 months. A student at the University of Virginia, he was arrested in the North Korean capital at the end of a tour. He had been sentenced to 15 years of forced labor for stealing a propaganda poster during his stay. The exact cause of his death remains unknown.
" An American family, the Warmbiers, directly suffered the brutality of North Korea when (the Pyongyang regime) arrested their son for use as a pawn in the tricks of this totalitarian state and his confrontation with the United States. United, "said Judge Beryl Howell.
Judge Howell awarded a total of $ 501 million to Otto Warmbier's parents, largely in damages. It is highly unlikely that North Korea will pay this amount and the plan assets that may be seized in the United States are very small.
Brain damage related to torture
" North Korea is responsible for the torture, hostage-taking and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, as well as the injuries inflicted on his father and mother, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, " she said. explained in his decision.
The judge quoted neurologist Daniel Kanter as saying that the young man probably suffered from brain damage caused by a five to twenty minute interruption of the blood supply to the brain. On the basis of known cases of interrogations conducted by the North Korean services, the young man may have undergone simulations of drowning, electric shocks, choking and teeth tearing the forceps, said the judge.
Possible renewed tension between the two countries
The death of Otto Warmbier had aggravated already difficult relations between Washington and Pyongyang on the question of the North Korean nuclear arsenal. A sudden warming, however, led to a historic meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in June in Singapore.
The ruling could disrupt negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang on an agreement to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, which seem however currently blocked. President Trump is planning a one-on-one meeting with the leader of the secluded regime in early 2019. " There is progress, " said the US president on Twitter on Monday, " I look forward to my next summit with the president. Kim .
Christmas Eve briefing with my team working on North Korea - Progress being made. Looking forward to my next summit with Chairman Kim! pic.twitter.com/zPTtDbrP0o
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018(With AFP)