TO COURT

Otto Warmbier’s Family Sues North Korea Over His Death

The family says Otto was a victim of state-sponsored “torture” and “extrajudicial killing.”

The parents of Otto Warmbier sued North Korea on Thursday, claiming that the country “brutally tortured and murdered” their son while he was in captivity for 17 months, according to The Washington Post. The complaint, which was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., alleges that North Korean officials and agents “intentionally ordered, directed and caused the torture, hostage taking and extrajudicial killing of Otto[.]” The court papers state that Otto, upon returning to the U.S., had “extensive loss of brain tissue” caused by “the cessation or severe reduction of blood flow to the brain.” He was also blind, deaf, and “severely brain damaged.” Warmbier’s parents seek compensation for his death, suffering, and the family’s emotional suffering from a Justice-Department fund meant to “compensate victims of state-sponsored terrorism,” the Post reported. The White House and Vice President Mike Pence’s office were “supportive of the lawsuit but did not have a role in drafting it,” a source told the newspaper. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this summer.