Mark Swidan

Mark Swidan is an American designer, artist, photographer and businessman on April 14, 2023, the Guangdong court upheld the sentence.

Detention and sentence In 2012, Swidan traveled to China to buy supplies such as furniture, flooring, fixtures and helium for his home and business. On November 14, he was arrested in a Dongguan, Guangzhou, hotel room while speaking with his family on the phone.

The verdict in the case was delayed for years. In accordance with Chinese laws, U.S. consulate personnel visited him every month in the presence of Chinese judicial officers, but were not allowed to discuss facts related to his case that could obstruct the trial. At the time of his sentencing, U.S. treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin was in China to discuss the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.

In a July 2022 interview, Swidan's mother, Katherine Swidan, said she had not spoken to him since a five-minute phone call in 2018. She told CBS that guards broke her son's hand five to seven times, he had dislocated his knee, and he suffered from periodontal disease. It was also reported that Swidan has lost 100 pounds while confined. His mother reported that he was forced to beg for food and to produce silk flowers while exposed to toxic chemicals. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens made it a priority to secure Swidan's release.

In 2022, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for China, noting "arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than maintaining law and order, including the use of exit bans".

China and the United Nations In its submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Chinese government said Swidan was the principal offender in a drug trafficking scheme, citing his contact with two groups of narcotics producers, facilitating their arrival to China, providing assistance at the drug-manufacturing site where they worked, and transferring money to them. It said large amounts of meth (63,833.92 grams) and dimethylamphetamine (365.9 grams) were seized at locations where Swidan manufactured, trafficked and sold the drugs. It said Swidan's arrest and detention had no legal basis as he was not presented with an arrest warrant at the time of his arrest or promptly informed of the charges against him. which advocated for the return of wrongful detainees and hostages. Swidan's image was featured in a 15-foot mural in Washington, D.C., along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.

Professor Donald C. Clarke, an expert in Chinese law, said that a long verdict delay could be because of an internal controversy within the judicial system, with actors questioning the case's merits. Clarke said, "In such cases, the court doesn't want to embarrass police and prosecutors by acquitting, but it is also reluctant to convict, so it just sits on the case."

Peter William Humphrey, who was arrested in China for allegedly illegally acquiring personal data, called Swidan's detention a case of hostage diplomacy. John Kamm, its chairman, wrote to the Chinese government about Swidan's detention 40 times and received three or four responses.

Release In November 2024, Mark Swidan was released from his detention along with two other American citizens as part of a prisoner swap with China.