When former Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel was arrested three years ago in Russia, the government there said it was because the longtime teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow possessed less than an ounce of medical marijuana.

But on Saturday, former Ambassador Eric Rubin, who previously served as deputy chief of mission to Russia from 2008 to 2011, said he does not believe that’s the case.

Instead, Rubin, who is now retired, said Fogel was taken hostage by the Russian government for political reasons. He believes it was an effort directed by the Russian government at the highest levels.

“It’s a huge prize,” he said. “There is no doubt this was a setup. This was a directed and intentional, focused, hostage-taking effort.”

Rubin spoke on Saturday at Hostage Diplomacy: Marc Fogel, an event at the University of Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Building.

Featuring an exhibit of artwork from the Make a Marc event last spring, as well as a panel discussion, it included a screening of the short documentary, “Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?”

The event, organizers hope, is a way to continue to pressure the American government to bring Fogel home.

Now retired, Rubin serves as president of the American Foreign Service Association. During his remarks, he said he believes Fogel will be released soon.

“The most important thing we can say here today is ‘Free Marc Fogel.’ ”

‘Incomprehensible’

Fogel, 63, was arrested at the airport in Moscow on Aug. 14, 2021, after Russian authorities found him with 17 grams of medical marijuana. It had been prescribed for him in the United States for severe, chronic and debilitating back pain

After what his supporters called a sham trial, Fogel was convicted and sentenced to serve 14 years in a Russian maximum-security prison.

His advocates, for years, have lobbied the U.S. government to designate Fogel as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act of 2020.

They say he fits at least six of the 11 criteria. To receive the designation would provide his family with significant resources from the federal government.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has the authority to place the designation but has not done so. He has not explained to the family why, nor why Fogel continues to be left out in high-profile prisoner exchanges.

In the most recent, on Aug. 1, in a complex swap that involved six countries and 24 people, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, ex-Marine Paul Whelan and Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were freed.

Fogel was left behind.

He and his family were devastated.

On Aug. 3, Fogel spoke to his family from prison for 20 minutes in a call that was recorded.

That he was left behind, Fogel said, was “incomprehensible.”

“I’m shocked and sickened and out of breath and out of energy, and I just feel like my soul is dead,” Fogel said.

‘To hell with patience’

On Saturday, Rubin said he spent three years on the board of the Anglo-American School, which was established in 1949, when he was stationed in Russia. His two children also attended classes there.

He praised Fogel’s reputation as a teacher and the school’s role in teaching its students to be free thinkers.

The school, which was shut down by the Russian government after Fogel’s arrest, had 1,200 students when it closed, Rubin said.

It was shuttered, he said, because good teaching and free thinking became too much of a threat to the Russian government.

Fogel was part of that teaching.

“I mourn for the three years Marc has lost in terms of his freedom, and I feel remorse for his suffering,” Rubin said.

But Rubin, like many of the speakers on Saturday, offered an optimistic view, repeatedly asserting that Fogel will be released.

“When Americans come together for an idea, for a cause, for a belief, their unity is incredibly powerful,” Rubin said. “I am convinced at this point there is an absolute commitment from the highest levels of our government to get Marc home.”

But Fogel’s sister, Lisa Hyland of O’Hara, isn’t so sure.

“It’s really nice to hear people say Marc’s going to be here. I don’t get that [feeling] yet,” she said. “I appreciate that we should be patient, but my mother is 95 years old. Time is not on our side.

“So to hell with patience.”

‘He was a friend first’

Max Karpman, who attended the Anglo-American School of Moscow, never had Fogel as a teacher, though his sister did.

He was compelled to make the documentary film after learning of Fogel’s arrest.

When Karpman started working on the project, he said, he spoke to several other students and was inspired by their stories about Fogel.

“It really made me jealous I never had him as a teacher,” Karpman said. “I’ve never known a teacher could be like that.”

Fogel made his students love learning. He was able to shift kids’ moods just by walking into his classroom, Karpman said.

“He was a friend first, before he was a teacher.”

Alexandra Ashley, 32, had Fogel as a teacher at Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh in 2007.

That year, she said, he took a group of students to Oman for a global peace symposium.

“He was so enthusiastic,” Ashley said. “He taught from his heart, from his experience.”

She has been following Fogel’s story closely — along with her former classmates.

At Saturday’s event, she spoke briefly to Fogel’s mother, Malphine.

“Sometimes, I’m surprised by some of the things they say,” Malphine Fogel said. “I think there was a genuine love for Marc. He was able to reach his students, keep in touch with them and inspire them.

“It’s gratifying to me to hear how much he means to them.”

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