Marc’s Case
Malphine Fogel vs. Secretary of State Blinken
Marc Fogel: Political Pawn
Two years before Marc Fogel is arrested, Russia says U.S. is making teachers at Marc’s school “hostages”.
Two years after Marc Fogel’s arrest, Russia designates Marc’s school as a Foreign Agent.
Almost three years after Marc Fogel’s arrest, America refuses to designate Marc Fogel as wrongfully detained and recognize his detention as political.
See background with full citations below.
Marc Fogel/ Anglo-American School (AAS) in Moscow
In 2012, Pittsburgh-based teachers Marc and Jane Fogel began teaching and are employed by the Anglo-American School-Moscow.
Anglo-American School (AAS) in Moscow Overview
The Anglo-American School-Moscow was founded by the American, British, and Canadian governments in 1949 and managed as a nonprofit by a Board from the U.S., British, and Canadian embassies.
The school taught K-12 to about 1,200 children of diplomats from over 60 countries posted to Moscow as well as children of foreign businesspeople and wealthy Russians.
AAS-Moscow Political Pawn
At least since 2016, AAS-Moscow has been the source of political ping-pong between the U.S. and Russia.
According to the NYT, the Obama Administration was concerned that Russia would close AAS-Moscow in 2016 in retaliation for imposing sanctions on Russia for cyberattacks on the U.S.
The Washington Post reported, “…the Russian government ousted more than half of its personnel two years ago [2017]. That move, directed by President Vladimir Putin, was in response to U.S. sanctions slapped on Russia for its role in the conflict in Ukraine and election interference.”
Russian Visas Denied for American AAS-Moscow Teachers
On July 16, 2019, the NYT reported, “Russia’s Foreign Ministry has recently denied visas for teachers at a school in Moscow run by Western embassies, in what American officials suggested was an effort to exert political pressure on the United States…Moscow’s conflicts with Washington and London have flared repeatedly in recent years, and the school has been in the political crosshairs before. According to the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow, the visa bans were “aimed at pressuring the United States into returning two Russian diplomatic compounds it had seized in New York and Maryland.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry complained that “teachers in the American school are sent to Russia as embassy employees with diplomatic passports, although the school is a commercial enterprise.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/world/europe/russia-visas-diplomat-school.html
On July 17, 2019, in response to Russia denying 30 visas for AAS-Moscow teachers, then-U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman said, "The Russian government has made the unfortunate decision not to issue visas to the incoming teachers who are expected to arrive next month to start the school year at the Anglo-American School of Moscow…Children should not be used as pawns in diplomatic disputes."
Russia Equates American Teacher Visa Issue to Hostages
Russia responded aggressively. In a post to Facebook, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, called the U.S. statement "an outright lie" and asserted that the U.S. Embassy was wrongly granting the teachers diplomatic status to work at the school.
"The U.S. authorities have now apparently created a dead-end situation in order to come up with another scandal that makes hostages of citizens from both countries," she wrote.
Marc Fogel’s Visa Changes Status
In June 2021 at the end of the school year, as Marc and Jane Fogel were returning to the U.S. for the summer, they were issued a different type of visa than that of the previous 9 years. This visa was disassociated with the diplomatic mission of the embassy and was a standard work visa.
Marc Fogel Becomes Russian Political Hostage
On August 14, 2021, when returning to Russia to teach his 36th and last year before retiring, 61-year-old Marc Fogel was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport in Russia for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana in his luggage.
American Marc Fogel is Given a Disproportionate Sentence
On June 16, 2022, Marc Fogel was convicted of bringing marijuana into Russia and sentenced to 14 years at a maximum-security penal colony.
The same Khimkinsky court that presided over Marc’s case sentenced a Russian national convicted under the same criminal code articles to 8 years for contraband of 1.5 kilos (about 52 ounces) of various narcotics. The same court sentenced another person to 15 years for contraband of over 105 kilos (about 3,700 ounces) of cocaine. Other Moscow Region courts gave sentences of 13 years for contraband and possession of 6 kilos (about 210 ounces) of narcotics, and 17 years for contraband and possession of 115 kilos (about 4,056 ounces) of heroinas part of a criminal conspiracy. Lesser sentences were given to murderers and burglars.
Only instances where long sentences were given on charges similar to Marc’s involved foreign nationals Russians hoped to use as leverage for political gain:
Brittney Griner, a U.S. national, received 9 years after getting convicted on nearly identical charges as Marc. Griner was exchanged for the Russian arms dealer Victor Bout;
Naama Issachar, an Israeli national, received a similar politically motivated sentence of 7 years in prison after approximately nine grams of marijuana was found in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport. Issachar was released after the Israeli government gave the Russian Orthodox Church a religious complex in Jerusalem.
Russia Closes AAS-Moscow
On April 2, 2023, a Moscow court suspended the work of the AAS-Moscow for 90 days for allegedly violating Russian educational requirements. “As tensions between Moscow and Washington have soared, Russian officials have signaled they might consider shuttering the school.” https://www.rferl.org/a/moscow-court-suspends-anglo-american-school-embassies/32346094.html
On Friday, May 12, 2023, AAS announced that it closed AAS-Moscow. https://www.aas.ru/
On July 5, 2023, the U.S. State Department issued the following statement:
Protesting Moscow’s Designation of the Anglo-American School as a “Foreign Agent”
The United States protests the Russian government’s egregious decision to designate the Anglo-American School of Moscow as a “foreign agent,” the latest in a series of Russian Government actions that have forced the closure of the Anglo-American School.
The Anglo-American School, first established in 1949, has provided an excellent educational curriculum to children both of foreign diplomats and Russian citizens for decades.
It is troubling that the Russian government would single out — without legitimate cause — an established, trusted, and professional educational institution in this manner.
For 74 years the United States and Russia recognized our mutual interest in ensuring both sides’ dependent children were able to access educational opportunities without unnecessary disruption or harassment. The Russian government’s recent actions directly undermined this principle. https://www.state.gov/protesting-moscows-designation-of-the-anglo-american-school-as-a-foreign-agent/