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View Full Version : Otto Warmbier's Parents Sue North Korea For $1.05 Billion (2.5% Of Total GDP)




Swordsmyth
12-24-2018, 12:23 AM
The parents of Otto Warmbier, the student who was imprisoned and tortured in North Korea before slipping into a coma and dying, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Korean government for more than $1 billion, or about 2.5% of the country's entire GDP.
The family, that lives in Wyoming, Ohio, filed the lawsuit in federal court last April. North Korean authorities had arrested their son in January 2016 for attempting to steal a propaganda poster. He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison and subsequently died last year, days after he was released from North Korea to the United States in a coma. He had been tortured and in captivity in a North Korean labor camp for more than 17 months.
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/otoo_0.png
In October, a motion in the lawsuit was filed that seeks $1.05 billion in punitive damages on top of $46 million for the family's suffering. North Korea has repeatedly denied that it tortured the 22-year-old. The family's lawsuit claims that North Korea was in violation of international laws and forced their son to confess to carrying out an act of subversion on behalf of the United States.
If the dollar amount of the lawsuit pops out at you, it is for good reason. The motion includes language clarifying that the amount is intended to prevent North Korea from such unlawful behavior in the future. In federal court in Washington this week, the family of Warmbier said that they only wanted closure and justice on behalf of their son.
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Fred Warmbier, Otto's father, said last week:

"We're here because we don't fear North Korea anymore".
The family was blindsided not only when their son did not return from his trip to North Korea when he was supposed to, but also after he was brought home more than a year later in a coma - after North Korea described his condition as "good".

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-23/otto-warmbiers-parents-sue-north-korea-105-billion-25-total-gdp

I guess somebody is really scared that Trump will succeed at making peace with N. Korea.

Pauls' Revere
12-24-2018, 12:27 AM
Didn't he go voluntarily? and didn't the State Department have warnings reagarding travel there? And 46 million for your suffering...B.S.

Swordsmyth
12-24-2018, 05:34 PM
A U.S. court on Monday ordered Pyongyang to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 shortly after being released from a North Korea prison.Warmbier's parents sued North Korea in April over their son's death. The 22-year-old student died days after he was returned to the United States in a coma, and an Ohio coroner said the cause of death was lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.
"North Korea is liable for the torture, hostage taking, and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, and the injuries to his mother and father, Fred and Cindy Warmbier," Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in her ruling.
Pyongyang has blamed botulism and ingestion of a sleeping pill for Warmbier's death and dismissed torture claims.
Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement they had promised their son justice.
"We are thankful that the United States has a fair and open judicial system so that the world can see that the Kim regime is legally and morally responsible for Otto’s death," the Warmbiers said.
"We put ourselves and our family through the ordeal of a lawsuit and public trial because we promised Otto that we will never rest until we have justice for him," they said. "Today’s thoughtful opinion by Chief Judge Howell is a significant step on our journey."
Howell's ruling was a default judgment, a type of decision entered against a party that does not appear in court. Default judgments against foreign defendants are often difficult to collect.
U.S. courts can compensate default judgment holders by ordering the seizure of funds or other assets located within the country, but that is unlikely in this case because sanctions prohibit North Korea from accessing the U.S. financial system.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/u-court-orders-north-korea-pay-501-million-192702215.html

r3volution 3.0
12-24-2018, 07:32 PM
That seems just a tad high...

There's also no possibility of collecting, obviously, so I guess this is for PR purposes.

But if the goal is simply to embarrass the Stalinists, fine by me.

Grandmastersexsay
12-24-2018, 07:44 PM
That was quick. Less than a day to file a lawsuit and have it ruled on.

Swordsmyth
12-24-2018, 07:47 PM
That was quick. Less than a day to file a lawsuit and have it ruled on.
The suit is older than that.

Pauls' Revere
12-24-2018, 10:31 PM
And how many lawsuits against the USA for waterboarding i wonder?

loveshiscountry
12-24-2018, 11:12 PM
Nothing says you care for your son like sending him on a trip to North Korea. If the ticket was one way I'd focus on the parents. Just saying.