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Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a
14-year prison sentence after being arrested in August 2021 at a
Russian airport and possessing what his family and supporters
said was medically prescribed marijuana.
After Fogel was omitted from a massive prisoner swap last August
that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter
Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan,
among others, his family's lawyers made another push for the
Biden administration to secure his freedom, including by
designating him as wrongfully detained.
The State Department considers a range of factors in deciding
whether to designate an American jailed in a foreign country as
wrongfully detained, including if there's credible information
that the person is innocent. The factors also include if they
are being held for the primary purpose of influencing U.S.
policy or securing concessions from the U.S. government.
Officials confirmed Friday that Fogel had now received that
designation.
“The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s
release for some time. 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," the department said in a statement.
The designation traditionally shifts supervision of a detainee's
case to the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage
Affairs, a State Department office focused on negotiating for
the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being
wrongfully detained in other countries.
In a statement, Fogel's wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam,
said 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."
“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 statement said.
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