Mark Swidan: Family of Texas man on death row in China slams Joe Biden for 'cherry picking' high-profile cases
HOUSTON, TEXAS: The family of a Texas man facing execution in China a decade after his arrest on false drug charges has accused President Biden of selectively intervening in high-profile cases like those of Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed. Mark Swidan was arrested in China in 2012 after telling his mother he wanted to buy some cheap furniture for his Houston home.
Chinese officials arrested him in his hotel room on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine in collaboration with a cartel. Swidan has always denied the charges, but was sentenced to death in 2019 and recently lost an appeal against the sentence.
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'The government is cherry-picking'
After his failed appeal, Swidan is currently awaiting execution in China with no set execution date. However, he was granted a two-year suspension on his sentence at a recent hearing. According to an interview, Swidan's mother, Katherine, stated that she has never received any communication from the White House or President Biden regarding her son's case. Despite the intervention efforts in the cases of Brittney Griner, Trevor Reed, and Evan Gershkovich, no one from the Biden administration has stepped in to help secure her son's release from China. "It's like Mark doesn't exist. I think the government is cherry-picking," the family lamented.
According to a UN report on the case, Swidan's arrest was deemed arbitrary. Although much of the information surrounding his case remains undisclosed, a source familiar with the case told Daily Mail that Swidan was in the vicinity of a legitimate drug bust and may have been caught filming it. The Chinese authorities reportedly confiscated his phone and its contents upon his arrest.
Ted Cruz claims Mark Swidan was jailed on 'bogus' charges
Despite the claims of Secretary Blinken and President Biden being personally invested in bringing Mark Swidan home, his mother Katherine has not heard from anyone in the current administration, and her son remains in China awaiting execution. Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have introduced a resolution on the Senate floor demanding the release of Mark Swidan by China. However, Beijing has not responded to this resolution.
"It's been over ten years since Mark Swidan has been trapped in a hell hole. They've sentenced him to death on bogus charges. It's long past time," said Cruz. "I've spoken with his mother repeatedly, I've spoken to the Chinese government, I've spoken with the Biden administration... it is time for China to send this American hostage home," he added.
Senator Cruz claimed that Mark Swidan's case was put on hold after Secretary of State Blinken canceled a planned trip to China due to a reported "spy balloon" incident detected in the United States. "We had been pressing the State Department to make Mark Swidan's case a major priority for the administration on that trip. Then the Chinese spy balloon came and Blinken canceled his trip and the Biden administration just ineptly allowed the spy balloon to engage in espionage across the entirety of the continental United States, spying on military facilities and sending that information back to Beijing. Since then, we've seen no progress since Mark Swidan," he said.
Britney Griner vows to fight for 'every American detained overseas'
WNBA player Britney Griner, who was released recently after being held overseas at a Russian prison for possessing cannabis oil, shared her plans to advocate for American citizens who have been imprisoned overseas, as previously reported by MEAWW. "I want to continue to fight to bring home every American detained overseas," she said. "We have to reunite all those families that are going through this really strange time, challenging time."
By sharing her story in a new memoir, and advocating for their release, Griner aims to make a difference in the lives of those who have been wrongly detained and imprisoned abroad. "By writing this book, I also hope to raise awareness surrounding other Americans wrongfully detained abroad such as Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Emad Shargi, Airan Berry, Shahab Dalili, Luke Denman, Eyvin Hernandez, Majd Kamalmaz, Jerrel Kenemore, Kai Li, Siamak Namazi, Austin Tice, Mark Swidan and Morad Tahbaz," Griner said in a press release. Griner was freed from prison as part of a prisoner exchange arranged by the Biden Administration, which involved the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for her freedom.