A 22-year-old college student with ties to an Ohio United Methodist congregation has been released from imprisonment in North Korea after being convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster.
Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, confessed at his trial in March 2016 to attempting to steal a propaganda poster from a worker, according to news reports. National Public Radio summarized the offense: "On camera, Warmbier said he stole the propaganda poster on behalf of a member of the Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, who wanted it 'as a trophy.' In exchange, he would receive a used car worth $10,000."
Friendship United Methodist Church's website made no mention of Warmbier's release or the circumstances that led to his imprisonment. A discreet note on the church's home page listed a prayer request for "Otto W."
The Washington Post reported that Warmbier was in a coma, having been unconscious since his detention following a one-hour trial. The Post reported that Warmbier was believed to have suffered botulism poisoning and was given a sleeping pill by North Korea doctors. North Korea reportedly has some of the worst medical facilities in the world, and U.S. authorities were unsure how well doctors there had cared for Warmbier.
However, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who announced Warmbier's release before his Senate testimony June 12, declined to comment on the student's medical condition. The Post reported that Warmbier was being flown home to Cincinnati by way of a U.S. military base in Sapporo, Japan.
Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor after a North Korean court convicted him of subversion for taking a propaganda poster from an employee area. At the time NPR quoted Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch: "North Korea's sentencing of Otto Warmbier to 15 years' hard labor for a college-style prank is outrageous and shocking. 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."