The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Wednesday sentenced U.S. college student Otto Frederick Warmbier to 15 years of hard labor for "crimes against the state".
The DPRK Central Court, the country's supreme court, handed down the sentence in the presence of press workers and foreign embassy staff in Pyongyang. But videotaping was forbidden inside the courtroom.
Warmbier, a 21-year-old student at the University of Virginia, entered the DPRK in late December as a tourist and allegedly stole a propaganda banner from a staff-only area in his hotel in Pyongyang.
At a press conference last month, the student admitted to attempting to taking down the sign so that he could sell it outside the country. He also begged for forgiveness and expressed wishes to return to his family.
The DPRK said Warmbier was encouraged to commit the "hostile act" by a secretive university organization that has close connection to the CIA.
Warmbier was arrested on Jan. 2 when he was about to board a plane to leave the country.
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