State Department: Efforts to free Marc Fogel had been ongoing for months
Butler native Marc Fogel spent his fourth consecutive Christmas behind bars in a Russian prison, but, according to a source from the U.S. Department of State, it wasn’t for a lack of trying on their end.
A representative of the State Department’s Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs said official efforts to free Fogel have been ongoing for months, and that the department had attempted to include him in an earlier prisoner exchange.
“The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time,” said a State Department spokesperson. “We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the Aug. 1 (prisoner exchange in Ankara, Turkey), but were unable to.”
Meanwhile, Fogel’s family filed on Thursday, Dec. 26, to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit against the State Department. The lawsuit was filed in June, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken named as the defendant, and sought to compel Blinken and the State Department to designate Fogel as “wrongfully detained” under the Levinson Act.
The lawsuit ultimately became a moot point, as the Fogel family announced earlier this week that the State Department has granted Marc the wrongfully detained designation.
“It was always the intention of the plaintiff that if Marc was designated, then the case would be dismissed,” said Edward Phillips of the Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir law firm, the lead attorney for the Fogel family. “If he’s designated, then you don’t need to force that procedure anymore through the judicial process.”
According to multiple sources, the State Department made the determination in October, the same month that the department filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and the plaintiff’s lawyers filed a response in opposition.
Phillips believes the lawsuit is what compelled the State Department to finally act.
“If you look at the timing of the lawsuit, I think it’s clear that the lawsuit had an important impact in bringing about the designation,” Phillips said. “I don’t want to undermine the enormous efforts that have been made, and hopefully will continue to be made, by members of Congress who have advocated for the designation and will advocate for his return home, but my position is that it was an important part of the larger process of getting him designated.”
Fogel was detained Aug. 14, 2021, shortly after he returned to Moscow to resume teaching American history. The then-60-year-old Fogel, who had a history of chronic pain, was arrested shortly after arrival at Sheremetyevo Airport for possessing a small amount of medicinal marijuana, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Over the course of the lawsuit, a massive multinational prisoner exchange took place at Ankara, Turkey in August. To the dismay of the Fogel family, Marc was not among 16 foreign detainees who were released from prisons in Russia and Belarus.
The Fogel family also had to watch other high-profile cases of American citizens detained in Russian prisons granted their release, such as women’s basketball star Brittney Griner and journalist Evan Gershkovich. The lawsuit states the circumstances of Griner’s incarceration were “nearly identical” to Fogel’s, with Griner convicted of the same charges as Fogel.
According to Phillips, the lawsuit contended that — unlike with other high-profile cases of American citizens detained abroad — Blinken and the State Department most likely never carried out a review of Fogel’s case under the Levinson Act.
“It was our position that there hadn’t been (a review carried out),” Phillips said. “It was clear when we filed that the review under the Levinson Act had not been done, which is why we filed the lawsuit.”
According to Sasha Phillips, an attorney from the Dentons law firm, who has worked with the Fogel family, members of the family chose not to publicize the change in Marc’s status when it initially happened.
“This happened at some point in October. However, the family held off on releasing this information until now,” she said. “There were several reasons. That included consideration for Marc’s safety and well-being.”
Although Edward Phillips recognizes that he and the Fogel family have won a battle, the war is far from over.
“The larger process also includes getting him home, and that's sort of the next step in all of this,” Phillips said.
“Marc Fogel’s designation as wrongfully detained is long overdue, but I’m pleased to see the State Department take this critical step,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th. “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.”
