Students rally in Washington in support of teacher arrested in Russia for having medical marijuana
The story of Oakmont native Marc Fogel has mainly been contained to Pittsburgh. His family was outspoken about his imprisonment in Russia following a marijuana-related conviction, but now his former students are rallying together.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> Oakmont man held in Russia to be moved to labor camp
Outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Monday, a handful of Fogel’s former students traveled from New York to bring attention to his case. As a teacher, he’s taught around the world including the Middle East, where he met Varad Kishore.
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Kishore, who organized Monday’s rally, saw firsthand Fogel’s back injury and the reason he had medical marijuana while in Russia. But those drugs led him to a harsh sentence of 14 years in maximum security prison.
His former students are calling on lawmakers to reclassify Fogel’s case as wrongfully detained and include him in the conversations about prison exchange.
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“The people we talked to that came by and spoke to us hadn’t heard about Marc’s case. They had heard of the other two Americans that are stranded and been in the news, but they hadn’t heard there’s a teacher out there,” Kishore said.
Kishore said the time for this change is now as Fogel was transferred to a hard labor camp with zero communication ability with his family.
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