State Dept. hit with lawsuit over not issuing 'wrongful' detention for U.S. citizen jailed in Russia

Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on Tuesday against the U.S. State Department related to the department not issuing a wrongful detention designation for U.S. citizen Jimmy Wilgus who was sentenced in Russia.

Judicial Watch is seeking "all records related to why the department has not issued a 'wrongful' detention designation for Jimmy Wilgus, a U.S. citizen sentenced to 12.5 years in a Russian penal colony on allegedly false charges based on a forced confession and fabricated evidence."

Wilgus, originally from New Jersey, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure on November 7, 2016 in a part of Russia that his family said he hasn't visited before, according to WUSA9 report that Judicial Watch cited in the lawsuit. At the time, Wilgus was living in Russia with his wife, who is from Russia. 

Judicial Watch decided to file the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia when the State Department did not respond to its February 27, 2024 FOIA request.

Wilgus' parents have been advocating for the U.S. government to help them free their son.

"We are grateful to Senator Robert Menendez for his recent assistance and pray his actions will bring our son home where he can get professional medical care. We plead with President Biden, Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Carstens to exert influence to expedite Jimmy's release. Russia treats American prisoners like pieces on a game board, but Jimmy's life isn't a game," they said in a statement last year.

According to a page on the website, FreeJimmyWilgus.com, the "Russian judicial system tried and convicted Jimmy in a closed door trial where neither his wife nor a representative of the U.S. Embassy was allowed inside."