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Putin to make decision on Issachar’s pardon appeal in near future — Kremlin

The Israeli's petition will be considered by the commission for pardons in the evening of January 27

Naama Issachar Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

Naama Issachar

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

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Convicted Israeli woman pleas for pardon

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a decision regarding Israeli national Naama Issachar’s pardon appeal in the near future, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed.

"We know that [Issachar’s pardon] appeal addressed to the head of state is ready. Currently, the necessary legal procedures are being carried out for the president to make a decision on this matter in the near future," the spokesman told reporters on Monday.

On January 26, Issachar, who is currently serving a sentence in the Moscow Region for drug smuggling, made a pardon appeal. Her petition will be considered by the commission for pardons in the evening of January 27.

Issachar’s case

Naama Issachar, an Israeli and US national, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on April 9, 2019, when she was in the airport’s transit zone before boarding a connecting flight to Tel Aviv after arriving from New Delhi. The airport’s security guards found 9.6 grams of cannabis in her luggage.

On October 11, 2019, the Khimki City Court in the Moscow Region found Issachar guilty of drug possession and smuggling (Part 1, Section 228 and Part 2, Section 229.1 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced her to 7.5 years in a standard regime penal colony. The Moscow Regional Court upheld the verdict on December 19.

In October 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin asked Putin to pardon Issachar. On December 6, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz revealed that he had raised the issue at a meeting with Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Rome, expressing hope that the Russian president would consider the request to pardon the Israeli national.

During his visit to Jerusalem on January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Issachar’s mother that "everything is going to be alright" regarding her daughter. "I have just met with Naama’s mother," the head of state said after the meeting. "It is clear to me that Naama comes from a very good and decent family. I am aware of the position of [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] who asks to make an appropriate decision. All that will certainly be taken into account when the final decision is made," Putin concluded.

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