Four Americans are coming home, but don’t forget those left behind

The prisoner swap with Russia that made it possible for four high-profile Americans to return to the United States is obviously welcome news. Both they and their families endured enormous hardships that no American should have to face. 

But we should remember those who didn’t make it home – ​and continue to push for their timely release.

One notable example is Marc Fogel. Fogel, 63 years old, taught at AAS Moscow (formerly known as the Anglo-American School of Moscow). In 2021, he was detained for possessing less than an ounce of medical cannabis that he was prescribed for chronic back pain. Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony for drug smuggling and possession. Today, his health is deteriorating.

The United States has not officially declared Marc Fogel, right, to be wrongfully detained, despite quickly doing the same for Brittney Griner after her detention in Russia for the same crime. (Photos courtesy Ellen Keelan and Lisa Hyland)

The United States has not officially declared Fogel to be wrongfully detained, despite quickly doing the same for Brittney Griner after her detention in Russia for the same crime. On Thursday, however, national security adviser Jake Sullivan described Fogel as "wrongfully detained," the first time an American official has done so.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT MARC FOGEL, ANOTHER AMERICAN WRONGFULLY DETAINED IN RUSSIA

For me, Fogel’s case is personal. When I attended the Anglo-American School of Moscow in 2012, his wife, Jane, was my science teacher. Many of my friends that took Fogel’s classes considered him a great teacher and an even greater person.

It is both disappointing and frustrating that an American who dedicated his professional career to teaching American students studying abroad in a dangerous country has been, once again, left behind.

Marc Fogel, right, with his family. (Photos courtesy Ellen Keelan and Lisa Hyland)

Unfortunately, Fogel’s case is part of a broader Russian tactic to gain leverage over the United States. In return for the American and German prisoners involved in Thursday’s swap, Russia welcomed the return of convicted cybercriminals and murderers. Two of these criminals, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznev, stole more than $100 million from Americans through cybercrimes.

Some may recall that, in exchange for Griner’s release, the U.S. returned Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death" and considered one of the world’s most dangerous arms dealers. The pattern is clear: Russia will detain and unjustly convict Americans assuming the U.S. government will be willing to trade high-value individuals in exchange for their safe return to America.

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Russia is not alone. In 2016, for example, China arrested Kai Li of Huntington, New York, on "state security charges" and held him in secret detention without access to legal counsel. In July 2018, Kai was secretly convicted of espionage and remains in a Chinese prison. 

Russia and China continue to seize Western citizens, including academics, tourists and journalists, to use as bargaining leverage for political objectives and to secure their own prisoners.

The U.S. government must continue to make the safe return of Americans wrongfully detained back to the homeland a top priority. Every administration has an obligation to secure and protect the rights of Americans, especially those unjustly held overseas.

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In Fogel’s case, that means the State Department should formally declare him wrongfully detained by the Russian government, as they did when Griner was convicted of the same crime. As Fogel wrote to his wife, "Teachers are at least as important as bballers."

The fight to bring home all wrongfully detained Americans never stops. For some, like Fogel, time is not on their side.

Andrew J. Harding is researcher in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation.