Malphine Fogel, the mother of Marc Fogel, 65, an American teacher who has been imprisoned in Russia for the past three years, criticized the Biden administration for not freeing her son in the latest prisoner swap, according to the New York Post.
"I don't think the administration is trying hard enough for him. I guess because he is a common American citizen," Fogel told the Post of her son who was arrested in Russia in 2021 for carrying half an ounce of medical marijuana.
The United States secured the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans in the largest prisoner swap between the countries since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Malphine Fogel said while she is happy for those released, her son has been in jail longer than Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, one of the other prisoners swapped. She added that her son was arrested for the same crime as the WNBA's Brittney Griner, who was released in 2022.
"I am happy for the people released and their families. But I can't fathom why Marc wasn't included," she said.
She said she has yet to hear from American officials as to why her son is still detained in Russia. The State Department has never declared him "wrongfully detained," like it did Gershkovich and the two other prisoners.
Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Democrat Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, Republican Reps. Mike Kelly and Guy Reschenthaler, and Democrat Rep. Chris Deluzio, had joined Malphine Fogel in asking for her son to be included in the prisoner swap.
"As we celebrate the good news of today, we cannot forget about Marc and the Fogel family," Casey said in a statement.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday that "we're going to build on" the swap, "drawing inspiration and continued courage from it" for those who continue to be wrongfully detained.
"And that includes Marc Fogel, who we are actively working to get his release from Russia as well," he said.
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