Two Republican senators from Texas are publicly calling for China to release an “wrongfully detained” American who faces the death penalty after being arrested for drug trafficking while on a business trip to the country over a decade ago.
Mark Swidan was 38 years old when he traveled to China on business looking for flooring for construction work in November 2012. He was arrested after his driver and translator were allegedly found with drugs, The Texas Tribune reported it.
A United Nations report determined that Swidan was not in possession of drugs on his person or in his hotel room, and records show he was not in China at the time of the alleged crime.
The UN report said the 11 other people arrested with Swidan as part of the alleged trafficking ring were unable to identify him and that the conviction was based on his visit to a factory that was once used to make methamphetamine.
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Mark Swidan was arrested in China in 2012 on drug charges that the United Nations deems unlawful. (Mark Swidan family)
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn along with Republican Representative Michael Cloud are renewing calls for Swidan’s freedom and last week introduced a resolution calling for the Biden administration to secure his release.
“We have been engaged with Mark’s case for some time, with the Chinese government [and] with the State Department,” Cruz he told Fox 26 Houston. “Since it wasn’t being done, we decided the next step to intensify the pressure was to make it public. I will continue to insist that Mark has to go home and he has to go home now.”
Swidan’s mother, Katherine, who hasn’t seen him since 2018, says her son’s health is failing and he has lost more than 100 kilos.
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Mark Swidan has been imprisoned in China for over 10 years and faces a death sentence. (Mark Swidan family)
“We just want to get Mark home so we can take care of him,” Katherine Swidan told Fox 26 Houston. “They tried to force him to confess. Whatever they do to him, he will never confess to something he didn’t do. His passport shows that he was not in China at the time of any crime.”
Swidan also says Chinese authorities tortured his son who is facing a death sentence which he fought for three years.
“His appeals court has been deferred 30 times,” he added. “No one can give a straight answer as to why he’s still there.”
“I am calling on the Biden administration to use all the tools at our disposal to secure Mark’s release,” Cruz said. “And I’m asking the Chinese government to finally release Mark.”
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President Biden, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Monday, November 14, 2022 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to travel to China over the weekend when the family hoped progress could be made in securing Swidan’s release. However, the trip was postponed in response to the launch of a Chinese spy balloon in the United States.
“The Chinese government will not allow US consulate staff to speak to him,” Cruz said. “They won’t let his mother talk to him. His condition is terrible.”
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A State Department spokesman told Fox News Digital that the department raises wrongfully detained citizens with other countries “at every opportunity” and that Secretary Blinken is “personally focused” on bringing wrongfully detained U.S. citizens home. China.
“Over the past decade, Mark Swidan’s family has fought tirelessly for his return after he was wrongfully detained and sentenced to death by the Chinese government,” Senator Cornyn said in a news release. “The human rights violations Mark has suffered at the hands of the Communist Party of China are horrific and I will continue to push the Biden administration to expedite his case and secure his release.”
The calls for Swidan’s release come several months after the Biden administration negotiated a prisoner exchange with Russia to free WNBA star Brittney Griner who had been jailed for drugs.
