(NewsNation) — May 11 marks 3,832 days that American Mark Swidan has been in Chinese custody after his arrest on drug charges that the U.S. says have no legal basis.
For more than a decade, his family has advocated for his return home but has received few answers. Swidan’s mom, Katherine, told NewsNation officials have told her that any proposal about his release is top secret.
“I’ve spoken to the state department. They kind of are saying they’re waiting on the PRC to give them an answer on any proposal they’ve given. They also tell me it’s top secret, they can’t discuss it with me — what their plans are,” Katherine Swidan said. “I’m really in the dark as far as what they’re trying to do to get him home.”
Katherine Swidan said the last time she spoke to her son was before surgery in 2018 and she was allowed to speak to him for “for five minutes.”
“I don’t sleep at night because Mark’s awake over there and I don’t want to miss a call,” she said.
Mark Swidan was sentenced to death in 2019. He appealed his sentence, and it was denied earlier this month. Since then, Katherine Swidan said it’s been a “whirlwind.”
The U.S. State Department responded to China’s decision to uphold Swidan’s death penalty, saying: “We are disappointed by this decision and will continue to press for his immediate release and return to the United States… President Biden and Secretary Blinken continue to remain personally focused on the release of Mark Swidan and other U.S. nationals wrongfully detained or held hostage across the world.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized the Biden administration for not giving public attention to Swidan’s situation. In December, the White House arranged a high-level prisoner swap, where Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Recently, Biden urged Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The White House condemned Gershkovich’s detention “in the strongest terms.”
Cruz thinks if Swidan was a WNBA player or journalist, he would be home by now.
Katerine Swidan said she’s never heard from presidents Obama, Trump or Biden, and she said thinks Biden needs to demand that Mark be released as the House and Senate have.
“In 2012, Mark had did a beautiful piece of artwork with the Chinese wall on the bottom and the US on top with the White House overshadowing it and he put a note on there — Mrs. Clinton, please help me, she was the secretary of state at the time,” Katherin Swidan said. “No one’s called. Nobody’s visited, and I thought at least I’d get a phone call.
Last month, Jason Poblete, Swidan’s attorney, told NewsNation that Swidan is being held in a facility where he is forced to sleep on a concrete floor with the lights on at all times.
“That does a lot to a person psychologically. It does a lot to a person physically. He is being treated, in my opinion, like a political prisoner,” Poblete told NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas, later adding: “He has been tortured for years.”
Despite a lack of evidence, Swidan currently faces a death sentence in China linked to drug-related charges.
In April, the House unanimously approved a resolution to urge China to release Swidan, but Biden has not publicly made remarks about him.