IUP is putting its support behind a recent letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State from three of Pennsylvania’s federal legislators to get Marc Fogel, an IUP alumnus out of prison in Russia and get him home.
Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman have written the letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asking him that as negotiations continue between the U.S. and the Russian Federation on a potential prisoner swap, that Fogel’s name be included along with Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Fogel has been in custody since August of 2021, when Russian authorities found him with a limited amount of medical marijuana that was legally prescribed to him by a doctor in the U.S. to treat chronic pain. In June of 2022, he was sentenced by a Russian court to a 14-year sentence in a Russian penal colony. In the letter, the legislators say that Fogel’s health has deteriorated and while lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have urged for him to be classified as wrongfully detained, that process has stalled.
In his own statement, IUP President Dr. Michael Driscoll said that Fogel is a “valued member of the IUP family” and called it unconscionable for him to spend his third Christmas in the Russian Penal colony. He added that “IUP’s commitment to justice and equal treatment is not just about our campus or our home community – it is about supporting justice for all – in this case, justice for Marc Fogel.”
President Driscoll also encouraged people to send cards to Fogel to remind him he is not forgotten. Cards can be sent to:
American Citizen Services/MHF Consular Services|
5430 Moscow Place
Department of State
Washington, DC 20521-5430
Mr. Fogel’s family requests that his name not be put on the outside of the envelope.
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