The State Department announced that an American teacher arrested at a Russian airport on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.
Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.
Fogel was left out of a massive prisoner swap in August that freed multiple Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan.
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After the prisoner exchange, which also freed a dozen German nationals, lawyers for Fogel's family again pushed for the Biden administration to work toward securing his freedom, including by designating him as wrongfully detained.
The State Department considers several factors when choosing whether to designate an American jailed in a foreign country as wrongfully detained, such as whether there is credible information that the person is innocent or if they are being held primarily to influence U.S. policy or secure concessions from the U.S. government.
"The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time," the State Department said in a statement. "We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal, but were unable to. The Secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October."
Designating someone as wrongfully detained traditionally moves supervision of their case to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs's office, which is within the State Department and focuses on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being wrongfully detained in foreign countries.
Fogel's wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam, said in a statement they were grateful that the State Department "has finally acknowledged what we have known all along — that our husband and father, Marc Fogel, has and continues to be wrongfully detained."
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"Now that we have the full force of the U.S. government behind us, we must do everything in our power to bring Marc home as quickly and safely as possible," the family continued.
