Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel officially declared wrongfully detained in Russia
Published in News & Features
PITTSBURGH — Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel, who has been held in Russia since 2021, has been officially designated “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government, according to federal filings.
In a motion to dismiss her June lawsuit against the State Department, Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, cited the designation of Fogel as “wrongfully detained.” Fogel was sentenced in Russia for having a small amount of marijuana.
The motion to dismiss, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, said he received the designation under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
Attorney Edward Phillips, who is representing Fogel, told the Post-Gazette on Friday that the family found out about the designation in mid- to late-October.
“The designation is extremely important in terms of getting Marc home,” Phillips said. “It provides huge resources to the government to actually facilitate the release. In terms of getting a hostage home from a foreign country, this is absolutely necessary.”
According to Phillips, the designation provides the family with an “enormous amount of resources” including family coordinators who can provide updates on Fogel’s health and status in Russia.
“This is a great victory, a great step forward, a great milestone and a great validation of what the family had known and has said all along, that Marc has been detained wrongfully. ... [But] Marc was still hundreds, a thousand miles away from his family at the time when he needs them most and when they need him to come back home,” attorney Sasha Phillips, who is representing the Fogel family, said.
Fogel, 63, was arrested at the Sheremetyevo Airport outside of Moscow in August 2021 as he returned to the country for his 10th and final year as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow.
He was charged with possession of marijuana and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor.
His mother wrote in her lawsuit filed in June that she had been given no explanation as to why her son had not been declared “wrongfully detained” when his case parallels so many other Americans who have been declared as such, including WNBA star Brittney Griner.
“Despite their similar [and, in the case of Brittney Griner, nearly identical] situations, the United States designated each of the United States nationals as Wrongfully Detained under the Levinson Act while denying equal treatment to Marc Fogel,” the lawsuit alleged.
When a U.S. national is deemed wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, family members are offered legal resources, travel to and from Washington, D.C., and contact information for Department of State officials to answer questions.
The lawsuit had sought to compel Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “fulfill his statutory and constitutional obligation” to reviewFogel’s case and designate him as wrongfully detained, “just as Secretary Blinken has done for similarly situated United States nationals.”
While the designation —- which came two months after a massive prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia that led to the release of two dozen detainees including former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich — is a win for the Fogel family,Phillips said the moment was “bittersweet.”
“As much as this is a great step forward and progress, the fact still remains — and I think it was very obvious during the Christmas celebration —- that Marc’s seat remained empty around the Christmas table, that he was not there with his family celebrating, that he has not returned to the United States,” Phillips said.
She noted that Fogel’s health “continues to deteriorate.” Fogel, she said, has a spinal condition that makes it difficult for him to walk on uneven surfaces. Phillips pointed to a recent fire that broke out in one of the barracks at the prison where Fogel is being held.
“Thankfully Marc was able to call his family and to communicate to them that he was OK,” Phillips said. But, she added thatFogel’s condition means he’s unable to run out of a burning building or climb out of a window. “As you can imagine, this was the most anxiety inducing, nerve wracking several hours that they had between finding out about the fire and actually speaking to him.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, told the Post-Gazette Friday that “Marc Fogel’s designation as wrongfully detained is long overdue, but I’m pleased to see the State Department take this critical step. For years, I have met with the Fogel family and I have advocated in Congress for this designation. We will continue to work toward the day when Marc is free and is reunited with his family in Western Pennsylvania.”
The Fogel family is now planning to “double its efforts” with the U.S. government to ensure Fogel is successfully returned home. Phillips noted that Fogel met with President-elect Donald Trump before a July rally in Butler. But the assassination attempt on Trump prevented further conversations that day.
Phillips is now pushing for the outgoing Biden administration to work with the incoming Trump administration to ensure Fogel’s return.
“Marc has to remain a priority for the incoming administration, and frankly, his release has to remain a priority for the outgoing administration,” Phillips said. “And immediate and decisive steps — we have no time to waste — need to be taken to bring him back to his family.”
Staff writer Benjamin Kail contributed.
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