The family of Marc Fogel say they feel “heartbroken and outraged” after other American citizens were returned to the United States in a historic prisoner swap with Russia.
Yesterday, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were greeted in Washington, D.C. by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. They were among two dozen detainees that were released in the swap. However, Marc Fogel remains in a Russian Prison Camp where he is serving a 14-year prison sentence for the possession of medical marijuana.
The family said that while they have good wishes for the Gershkovich and Whelan families as they reunite with their loved ones, they say that it was incomprehensible that Fogel was left out of the negotiations, and that those who have already been released were detained by Russia long after Marc was detained in 2021. They say their fight to free him has been met with “stonewalling, double standards and –today— abandoning Marc to die in prison.” While the family said that Fogel has not been labelled as a “wrongfully detained” person, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan did label him that for the first time yesterday and said Federal officials are working hard on his release.
Fogel is an alumnus of IUP from the class of 1984 and has taught history courses in schools attended by the children of U.S. Diplomats in several countries.
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