The 95-year-old mother of an American teacher imprisoned in Russia for the past three years slammed the Biden administration for not including her son in the latest prisoner swap that freed three jailed Americans including Evan Gershkovich.
Malphine Fogel said that she was disappointed that her son, Marc Fogel, 65, has been overlooked yet again by President Biden’s negotiators after he was arrested in 2021 for trying to enter Russia with about half an ounce of medical marijuana used to treat a back injury.
“I heard about it with pain on the news,” Malphine told The Post.
“I don’t think the administration is trying hard enough for him,” she added. “I guess because he is a common American citizen.”
Marc remains in prison even though the US and Germany secured the freedom of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan in the biggest prisoner swap between the US and Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Malphine Fogel has long been advocating for her son’s release, pointing out that he had been in jail for longer than Gershkovich and Kurmasheva and was arrested for the same crime as WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was released in 2022 after being arrested for a similar offense as Marc.
“I am happy for the people released and their families,” Malphine said, “[but] I can’t fathom why Marc wasn’t included.”
She said that her son has never been declared “wrongfully detained” by the State Department — unlike Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and Whelan.
She specifically called out Pennsylvania’s senior US senator, Democrat Bob Casey, saying that he “needs to be more forceful to get him designated unlawfully detained.”
She added that she had yet to hear directly from American officials over why her son remains in Russia.
Along with the heartbroken mother, US Senators from Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman along with Keystone State Reps Mike Kelly, Chris Deluzio and Guy Reschenthaler had all asked for Marc to be included in Thursday’s swap.
“As we celebrate the good news of today, we cannot forget about Marc and the Fogel family,” Casey said in a statement.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US will continue to build on the success of Thursday’s release to free those detained in Russia, including Marc.
“We’re going to build on it, drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all of those who were held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world. And that includes Marc Fogel, who we are actively working to get his release from Russia as well,” Sullivan told reporters.
