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18th Mar 2016

VIDEO: North Korea sentence American student to 15 years in jail for this

Harsh

Simon Lloyd

If you find yourself in North Korea at any point in the near future (and let’s face it, there are more appealing holiday destinations), definitely don’t do what this guy did.

American undergrad student Otto Warmbier is facing 15 years imprisonment and hard labour in the hermit state for doing something that wouldn’t even have got you grounded as a kid on these shores.

Staying in the Yanggakdo International Hotel in the country’s capital of Pyongyang over new year, Warmbier removed a propaganda banner from a staff only area of the building, reportedly intending to present it to a friend when he returned to the US.

A grainy video (available below) has now surfaced showing Warmbier taking the banner.

The 21-year-old University of Virginia student was stopped the following morning as he attempted to board a plane and immediately taken away by guards.

On Wednesday, Warmbier was convicted by the Supreme Court for ‘crimes against the state’ before they delivered his incredibly harsh sentence.

Topics:

North Korea