American lad held captive in North Korea dies soon after release..

Saipanne

Ever see a news story that makes you shudder and think that?

I watched that video of Otto Warmbier pleading to a North Korean court. Imagine being in that situation. Jesus...

https://youtu.be/GaTX8q_16Cc

https://youtu.be/mjDgb-k4VXw

biko

Care to give us some background info on him at all?

Saipanne

biko wrote: »

Care to give us some background info on him at all?

Sorry, I thought it was well known.

He is a 21 year old Ohio student who went on a package tour of North Korea. He allegedly stole a propaganda poster off a wall and tried to smuggle it out of the country. He was arrested and sentenced to 15 years hard labour. The US insist that the arrest was politically motivated, and that Warmbiers confession was probably forced.

Horrible situation.

uck51js9zml2yt

This was in march. Sad to say but he should have known better than to steal something.

endacl

biko wrote: »

Care to give us some background info on him at all?

I just googled...

Saipanne

Tara Little Sister wrote: »

This was in march. Sad to say but he should have known better than to steal something.

I'd say we all did far more reckless things at that age. But yeah, he should have had the common sense to know where he was committing this act. Steal a poster in the USA, and you'll get a slap on the wrist. But some Asian countries will lock you up for that.

That's assuming he did it.

Cortina_MK_IV

Draw a moustache on a picture of the king (past or present) of Thailand and see how you get on.

endacl

Cortina_MK_IV wrote: »

Draw a moustache on a picture of the king (past or present) of Thailand and see how you get on.

Hold on. I'll just print one off....

OK. Moustache on. What happens now?

TallGlass

endacl wrote: »

Hold on. I'll just print one off....

OK. Moustache on. What happens now?

Head on to Thailand and show a few natives.

biko

Isn't that him at 3 mins in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHzhfg5TiSQ

Wanderer78

biko wrote:

Isn't that him at 3 mins in?

Not much difference in some rules to some western nations really

SterlingArcher

Lena Dunham. Do I even need to add more context?

Cortina_MK_IV

A Google search of "Things not to do in xxxxxx" might save you from getting arrested.

A Malaysian court detained four foreigners for allegedly stripping naked for photos atop Mount Kinabalu, an act some say angered the spirits of the mountain and caused an earthquake. (Reuters)

biko

When in Dubai, remember to not get raped. Or if you get raped, remember to not report it to the police.
You will get arrested for "extra-marital sex".
src

Ursus Horribilis

Saipanne wrote: »

Ever see a news story that makes you shudder and think that?

I watched that video of Otto Warmbier pleading to a North Korean court. Imagine being in that situation. Jesus...

https://youtu.be/GaTX8q_16Cc

https://youtu.be/mjDgb-k4VXw

I bet nobody thought things would turn out this tragically for the poor beggar. Shocking to think he has been sent home from North Korea suffering from what could euphemistically call "Life changing injuries"

Capt'n Midnight

Saipanne wrote: »

I'd say we all did far more reckless things at that age. But yeah, he should have had the common sense to know where he was committing this act. Steal a poster in the USA, and you'll get a slap on the wrist. But some Asian countries will lock you up for that.

That's assuming he did it.

Technically speaking you could get life for stealing a poster in the US thanks to the three strikes rule.

Paddy Cow

Saipanne wrote: »

Ever see a news story that makes you shudder and think that?

Yes. The Grenfell Tower story. It's horrific. It was bad enough seeing the footage of the blaze and knowing people were going from one hospital to another looking for loved ones, but when I read a story today about a young Italian couple who rang their parents from one of the tops floors and they thanked them for all they'd done, said smoke was coming under the door and then their phone got cut off and the parents stuck in Italy were going mad trying to reach them, I stopped reading stories on that. I would hate to be a person trapped in that tower or someone left to pick up the pieces. Just tragic all around and I hope the fcukers who were warned about that cladding do serious jail time. Terror attacks are bad enough but you can't know when they are going to happen. This was totally preventable.

LordSutch

Theresa May.

Samaris

Paddy Cow wrote: »

Yes. The Grenfell Tower story. It's horrific.
...

Yeah. And I don't think anyone could have looked at those pictures - or video - where you could see people still frantically signalling at the windows of the topmost floors and not shudder at the horror they were facing.

Stories where people are/were trapped as well. Like various mine disasters. Or the Kursk, that one gave me a couple of nightmares. Mild claustrophobia might be making those ones stand out, but the idea of being trapped alive at the bottom of the sea waiting for rescue that will never come is horrifying.

Murrisk

Paddy Cow wrote: »

but when I read a story today about a young Italian couple who rang their parents from one of the tops floors and they thanked them for all they'd done, said smoke was coming under the door and then their phone got cut off and the parents stuck in Italy were going mad trying to reach them, I stopped reading stories on that.

Of course the Daily Mail, because the Italian girl was attractive, spent most of the article posting photos of her in various bikinis. Classy.

wakka12

biko wrote: »

When in Dubai, remember to not get raped. Or if you get raped, remember to not report it to the police.
You will get arrested for "extra-marital sex".
src

i dont think anything about that country would surprise me, sounds like the handmaids tale

mikeym

RIP Otto Warmbier

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40335169

The American student who was released last week after being held in captivity for more than 15 months in North Korea has died, his family says.
Otto Warmbier, 22, returned to the US last Tuesday, but it emerged he had been in a coma for a year.
North Korea said botulism led to the coma, but a team of US doctors who assessed him dispute this account.
Mr Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel.
He had suffered severe brain damage, and was medically evacuated from North Korea on 13 June to a hospital in his home town of Cincinnati. Ohio.
The Warmbier family has blamed his death on what they called the torturous mistreatment he had received at the hands of the North Koreans.
"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2:20pm," a statement from the family said.
It said the student was "unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands".
"Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today."

Paddy Cow

mikeym wrote: »

RIP Otto Warmbier

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40335169

:eek: I never expected this to play out the way it has. That poor guy He was a silly kid who stole a flag, not fully understanding just how extreme North Korea is. It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and say he played with fire, he should've known better etc but I know that at that age I did some pretty stupid **** but I didn't end up with some mutant strain of botulism beating me into a coma.

He didn't deserve this. I feel for his family and for him who lost his life for a stupid prank.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

mikeym wrote: »

RIP Otto Warmbier

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40335169

Givign the circumstances, I think it's a realease in the end. I hope he's in a peacedul place now.

retro:electro

Disgraceful. Looks like they only released him so he wouldn't die on their watch. Poor man. Hopefully an autopsy will show what actually led to his death. At least he died on American soil. They will have more freedom to investigate the circumstances than if he had died in NK.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

JellieBabie

That poor man. Can't even imagine the ordeal he had over there; I think he was crazy to visit in the first place but regardless he didn't deserve an ounce of that sentence. RIP.

Stheno

God love his family thinking they were getting him home last week to lose him this week.

May he rip

nullzero

Sadly this is possibly representative of the fate of so many North Koreans. What a frightening place North Korea is.

Ubbquittious

No sign of physical abuse. They must have decided to experiment on him with some nasty sh?t

Ken.

Mod-Threads merged.

Richard Hillman

This was a guy that they were supposed to look after. Shorten his sentence, go home, tell everybody he was treated well, North Korea not so bad after all.

Imagine what they do their own people?

After the Holocaust the consensus was we cannot let this happen again. But here we go, 2017 and they have death camps in North Korea. And we will not know the full extent of it until the regime collapses.

yerwanthere123

Heartbreaking. We'll probably never know what they did to him over there. I think it's quite clear at this stage that North Korea sent him home to die. At least his family got him back, I hope they find peace at some stage.

RobertKK

The North Korean government are like a bloody stain on this planet.

They killed this man.

Rumpy Pumpy

A load of people head there for Human Zoo tourism. Mad into Marxism and 'rage against the machine' sort of stuff.

dublinman1990

That is really sad. He was only a young man and now he's dead because of a political stunt he pulled in NK.

NK surely is a hellhole with these types of rotten standards applied on their own so-called justice system.

An unbearable loss for his family and friends. I hope they will find peace & justice that he is now gone. RIP Otto.

aidan24326

nullzero wrote: »

Sadly this is possibly representative of the fate of so many North Koreans. What a frightening place North Korea is.

I'd imagine the fate of many North Koreans is even worse, although it's difficult to know what really goes on in that country since everything is so controlled and media access from the outside world is virtually zero. From what we do know it seems a bizarre country, culturally as different from us as a planet on the other side of the galaxy.

Pero_Bueno

Holy **** they actually killed the guy.
RIP

Pero_Bueno

There are plenty of books available for free (kindle/e reader versions) that are written by escaped North Korean prisoners.
It is as bad or worse than the Nazi death camps - sickening stuff that I can't believe is going on - and then the world laughs at Kim Jong, like he is a comedy figure - it isn't a joke.

McDermotX

WT'HOLY'F !

Esel

Bad karma.... ^

Peregrinus

Pero_Bueno wrote: »

Holy **** they actually killed the guy.
RIP

Pero_Bueno wrote: »

There are plenty of books available for free (kindle/e reader versions) that are written by escaped North Korean prisoners.
It is as bad or worse than the Nazi death camps - sickening stuff that I can't believe is going on - and then the world laughs at Kim Jong, like he is a comedy figure - it isn't a joke.

Other westerners who have been detained in the Glorious People's Democratic Republic report that they suffer detention (obviously) and privation (not a lot of food, not a lot of company, restricted communications, etc). But they don't suffer physical abuse or torture and, from reports, there's no physical evidence that Warmbier was tortured, or that his brain injury is the result of anything done to him by his captors.

His brain injury could be the result of his brain having been deprived of oxygen for a period, which in turn is usually the result of his having stopped breathing, and not having been resuscitated quickly enough. He could have stopped breathing as a result of a cardiac incident, or a drug overdose (sedatives, opiates), or indeed thoracic paralysis as a result of botulism infection, as claimed by the North Koreans. Whatever the cause, if he had been immediately resuscitated this long-term damage would not have resulted. It may be that this happened in a place where appropriate medical care wasn't available, or it may be that his captors simply failed to recognise what was happening, or did not know how to deal with it (though any doctor would have known).

So, basically, he wasn't tortured. He was denied adequate, competent medical care at a crucial time.

the_syco

Saipanne wrote: »

That's assuming he did it.

Pretty sure there was video?

Murrisk

This is absolutely chilling. A young man with his whole life ahead of him. Callow eejitry stays in the past for most of us.

Paddy Cow

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Technically speaking you could get life for stealing a poster in the US thanks to the three strikes rule.

They also have a three strikes rule in North Korea - break the law and three generations of your family are sent to the camps :eek:

Paddy Cow

Peregrinus wrote: »

So, basically, he wasn't tortured.

You don't know that. They could have water boarded him until he lost consciousness. Given their history, I'd say they know how to torture someone without leaving marks. They've had enough practice. I wouldn't take them at face value that a young fit male in their care happened to fall seriously ill from botulism. Way too convenient.

Also, confirmation bias.

AudreyHepburn

I don't think there's any sense in denying that what Warmbier did was reckless and foolish especially in a place like North Korea....we all do stupid things when we're young.

But he did not deserve what was done to him - it was evil and disgusting, simple as that.

What a horrible place N Korea is.

RIP Otto

AudreyHepburn

Ubbquittious wrote: »

No sign of physical abuse. They must have decided to experiment on him with some nasty sh?t

Surely the coma and his death are signs of abuse?

AudreyHepburn

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Surely the coma and his death are signs of abuse?

Not quite, according to the American doctors at the press conference.

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

RIP Otto

Otto? Were you two friends?

AudreyHepburn

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Not quite, according to the American doctors at the press conference.


Otto? Were you two friends?

Obviously not but that was his name was it not? Why shouldn't I say it?

You're really going to nitpick at a time like this? That's just sad.