Biden ‘not giving up’ on getting US teacher Marc Fogel out of Russia
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US President Joe Biden (left) was asked by the media on Aug 2 about getting Marc Fogel (right) released from prison in Russia.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, X
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WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said on Aug 2 that American officials still hope to secure the release of Marc Fogel, a US citizen who is serving a 14-year sentence in Russia, after the biggest East-West swop of prisoners since the Cold War.
Fogel, a 63-year-old teacher who had worked at the US Embassy in Moscow, was sentenced for drug smuggling after he was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in August 2021 with 17g of marijuana – which he said he used for medical reasons – in his luggage.
At the time of his arrest, Fogel was working at the now-shuttered Anglo-American School in Moscow.
“We’re not giving up on that,” Mr Biden told reporters when asked about Fogel’s case as he left the White House to spend the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Pressed for details on when Fogel could be released, Mr Biden shot back: “You want me to tell you ahead of time so he doesn’t get out?”
The historic swop of prisoners
Ms Anne Fogel, the jailed teacher’s sister, told PBS NewsHour on Aug 1 that Fogel’s family had spoken with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan two years ago, but had heard nothing since.
“Marc has never been prioritised,” she said.
“He was convicted under the same code as Brittney Griner, but he was never designated as wrongfully detained. And we don’t have the NBA (National Basketball Association) behind us and we don’t have The Wall Street Journal behind us, so it’s been very difficult for us to get our man out.”
US basketball player Griner was released from detention in Russia in a prisoner swop in 2022.
“This is absolutely unfair that they did not bring him home with the greatest historic prisoner swop since the World War,” said Ms Fogel. REUTERS
