In the Wednesday, June 19, edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about a lawsuit filed in federal court by the mother of Marc Fogel, the Butler County native held in a Russian prison.

Malphine Fogel, Marc Fogel’s mother, filed the suit to try and force the U.S. State Department to assess the criminal case that ended with a 14 year prison sentence. Marc Fogel was arrested in 2021 with a small amount of medical marijuana and accused of drug trafficking.

The suit comes after years of work by Marc Fogel’s family to bring public attention to his case. They’ve seen some success, with the U.S. Senate recently approving a resolution calling on President Joe Biden’s administration to secure Marc Fogel’s release.

What they haven’t gotten, however, is real action from the State Department. As Lisa Highland, Marc Fogel’s sister, said, “We don’t feel my brother has been treated fairly.”

The suit argues that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn’t abiding by the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, known as the Levinson Act.

The law lists 11 considerations intended for the secretary of state to use as a guide to determine if someone is wrongfully detained, and Marc Fogel’s case meets eight of those considerations, according to the suit.

The suit also asks for equal treatment for Marc Fogel, pointing to the government’s actions in the case of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was arrested under the same Russian law and who was designated as wrongly detained.

As the State Department has never made a public statement about Marc Fogel, it isn’t clear why officials haven’t reviewed the case. Regardless of their reasons, though, Tuesday’s lawsuit shows exactly how committed Marc Fogel’s family is to freeing him.

We wish the U.S. government were as committed.

— JK