The US government has officially designated an American teacher imprisoned in Russia as wrongfully imprisoned
The State Department has announced that an American teacher who was arrested at a Russian airport on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated an unlawful detainer by the US government.
Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania history teacher, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after he was arrested in August 2021 at a Russian airport for possession of what his family and supporters say was medical marijuana.
Fogel was left out of a major prisoner swap in August that freed several Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security chief Paul Whelan.
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Lisa Hyland, left, and other family members of Marc Fogel, who has been imprisoned in Russia since August 2021, gather outside the White House for his release, July 15, 2023, in Washington. (AP)
After the prisoner exchange, which also freed dozens of Germans, lawyers for Fogel's family reiterated that the Biden administration had worked to secure his release, including designating him as a wrongfully imprisoned person.
The State Department considers several factors when choosing whether to designate an American detained in a foreign country as wrongfully detained, such as whether there is credible information that the person is innocent or if they are being detained to influence US policy or have a protected warrant from the government. The US government.
“The United States has been working for some time to secure the release of Marc Fogel,” the State Department said in a statement. “We have been pleading for a long time for him to be released for the purpose of helping people and we tried to include him in the August 1st agreement, but we failed. The Secretary decided that Marc was wrongly arrested in October.”
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken ruled that Marc Fogel was wrongly arrested in October, according to the State Department. (Photos courtesy of Ellen Keelan and Lisa Hyland)
Designating a wrongfully imprisoned person traditionally transfers oversight of his or her case to the Office of the President's Special Envoy for Hostage Matters, which is within the State Department and focuses on negotiating the release of hostages and other Americans considered wrongfully detained in foreign countries.
Fogel's wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam, said in a statement that they were grateful that the State Department “finally acknowledged what we have known for a long time – that our husband and father, Marc Fogel, has and continues to do wrong.” you are arrested.”
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The exterior of the State Department building is seen on March 14, 2023, in Washington, DC (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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“Now that we have the full force of the US government, we must do everything in our power to bring Marc home as quickly and safely as possible,” the family continued.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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