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Lawsuit urges Dept. of State to take action on teacher Marc Fogel’s case

Malphine Fogel is reflected in a mirror in her home while discussing her lawsuit against Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a news conference at her home in Butler on Thursday, June 20. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

BUTLER TWP — The aim of the lawsuit filed by the 95-year-old mother of American teacher and Russian detainee Marc Fogel against Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Department of State is straightforward: to keep her son from being forgotten by the U.S. government and to bring him home from the Russian prison where he has been detained for nearly three years.

Marc Fogel, a Butler native, has not yet been designated as wrongfully detained by the state department. The lawsuit seeks to challenge that.

“I seek to compel Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken to designate Marc Fogel as wrongfully detained as he did Brittney Griner,” Malphine Fogel said during the news conference held in her living room on Thursday, June 20. “I seek the press to investigate Marc’s case with the State Department and not stop until you get answers.”

The lawsuit urges Blinken to take action and review Fogel’s case under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. The suit alleges the Department of State’s report to Congress has misstated facts, indicating a failure to review his case.

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