一个在朝鲜被关押了17个月的美国大学生终于获释返美,但不幸的是,他父母说,他一年多以来一直处于昏迷状态。
美国国务卿蒂勒森证实,22岁的瓦姆比尔已经从监狱获释,即将跟家人团聚。
美国国务院官员援引国务院的的规定,拒绝就瓦姆比尔的健康状况发表评论,但表示,国务院最后一次通过瑞典大使馆接触到瓦姆比尔还是去年3月。
瓦姆比尔的父母说,儿子这次获释属于医疗后送。他们被告知,瓦姆比尔去年三月接受审判后不久,有关方面让他服用了一粒安眠药,瓦姆比尔就再也没有醒来。
瓦姆比尔的父亲弗雷德·瓦姆比尔告诉华盛顿邮报说:“目前,我们就当是他出了一次事故,我们今年晚上就能见到儿子奥托了。”
瓦姆比尔是维吉尼亚大学学生,他因试图偷走一副宣传海报被朝鲜判处15年监禁。
An American college student held in North Korea for 17 months is finally on his way home but with a tragic twist as his parents say he has been in a coma for more than a year.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed Tuesday 22-year-old Otto Warmbier was released from prison and would be reunited with his family.
State Department officials refused to comment on Warmbier’s health, citing department guidelines, but said the last time the U.S. had any access to Warmbier, through the Swedish Embassy, was March of last year.
Warmbier’s parents described their son’s release as a medical evacuation. Fred and Cindy Warmbier said they were told their son was given a sleeping pill shortly after his trial last March, and he never woke up.
“At the moment, we’re just treating this like he’s been in an accident,” Fred Warmbier told The Washington Post. “We get to see our son Otto tonight,” he told the newspaper
North Korea had sentenced Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, to a 15-year prison term for attempting to steal a propaganda poster.