Editorial: Calls for Marc Fogel's release must continue until Russia sends him home

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been home for 10 weeks.

It was Dec. 8 that she was released from a Russian prison after months in custody for possession of a small amount of medically prescribed cannabis. It took a concerted effort from the highest levels of the federal government. A deal was brokered, and an exchange was made for arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner’s family got her back.

But Marc Fogel’s family has not gotten him back.

The Oakmont teacher, 61, worked with the children of diplomats. He was convicted of the same crime for the same reason. He had marijuana prescribed for chronic, debilitating back pain. Like Griner, he was arrested at the airport.

While conversations about Griner’s case were sometimes interspersed with proposals of a joint bargain that would include accused spy Paul Whelan, Fogel’s name was never mentioned by President Joe Biden. If Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up Fogel, it wasn’t prominently or prolifically.

That has not changed since Griner came home.

Legislators — Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation and others — have continued the vocal support they have given Fogel. Of particular concern has been the lack of a “wrongfully detained” classification for him.

On Wednesday, Republicans from the House Foreign Affairs Committee — including Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters; Mike Kelly, R-Butler; and Glenn Thompson, R-Centre County — sent Blinken a letter asking why Fogel’s designation has not been changed.

“The State Department has had ample opportunity to consider the designation of Mr. Fogel and communicate with Congress in a classified setting. And yet virtually nothing of substance has been shared, and Mr. Fogel still languishes in prison,” the committee members wrote.

It is concerning that what had been a refreshingly bipartisan effort that didn’t just cross aisles but also crossed state lines and united House and Senate members is now shown only in GOP names on the letter. This is despite the committee also including three Pennsylvania Democrats who previously advocated for Fogel.

A man with chronic pain has spent 18 months in Russian custody. He was sentenced to hard labor in a maximum security penal colony for something that isn’t even a summary offense in Pennsylvania. He and his family have watched as fame attracted the attention that his work as an educator did not.

Every lawmaker in Harrisburg and Washington should be keeping Fogel’s name in the forefront of conversations as loudly as Griner’s and Whelan’s were last year. Blinken should be hearing it daily, reminding him to change the classification to wrongfully detained.

And Biden should be challenged every day to say Fogel’s name, lending the case the weight of presidential notice.

It needs to be a constant cadence until Fogel, like Griner, is back with his family.