Israeli-American backpacker Naama Issachar freed from Russian prison

“Due to the presidential decree on pardoning, Naama Issachar has been freed from prison,” the prison service said in a statement. An Israeli-American woman who was jailed in Russia for 10 months before being released in 2020 has spoken for the first time about her experience, which closely echoes that of detained American basketball star Brittney Griner. “Due to the presidential decree on pardoning, Naama Issachar has been freed from prison,” the service said in a statement about the 26 year old. “I just want to say thank you,” Naama Issachar, who was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, told reporters upon landing. “I am still in shock from the whole situation, but I am grateful for everything.”

naama issachar

An Israeli-American woman jailed in Russia on drug charges has been released from prison after some 10 months, the Russian prison service said Thursday morning. Moscow — Russia’s prison service said Thursday that a U.S.-Israeli woman jailed for drug trafficking had been freed from prison after President Vladimir Putin pardoned her. She was to travel back home to Israel with Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after he met with Putin to discuss the new Middle East peace initiative announced this week by President Donald Trump.

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Reports in Hebrew-language media said Israeli officials believed Burkov may be connected to Russian intelligence. Russia asked Israel several times to release Borkov, but Israeli officials told them to wait for the court’s decision. But in October, a Russian court sentenced Ms. Issachar to seven and a half years in prison on drug possession and smuggling charges, and she was sent to a penal colony. Investigators said Ms. Issachar had admitted to possession, but she later said that the statement was given under pressure. What was supposed to be a three-hour layover in Moscow turned into a monthslong ordeal in Russian detention for Issachar, an American Israeli woman who was arrested in 2019 while she was traveling with a small amount of cannabis. Naama’s release was done as a gesture by President Putin to the US,” a senior official in an inter-ministerial committee dealing with the case told reporters in Netanyahu’s entourage.

Jmore covers the Jewish community of Greater Baltimore with news, features, profiles, lifestyle, and trends. Naama Issachar had been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for a small amount of marijuana. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Some in Israel also linked Issachar’s arrest to the fate of Alexei Burkov, a Russian man who was arrested in Israel on a US warrant on charges of involvement in a $20m credit card fraud scheme. “Guided by the principles of humanity, I pardon Naama Issachar,” said the decree, which was effective immediately.

American-born Israeli woman sentenced 7 1/2 years in Russia for cannabis

Shortly after Issachar’s arrest, the Russians started raising her case in connection to Borkov’s. That’s according to Israeli officials who say Israel concluded Russia’s intelligence and security services were driving the effort. National, was transiting through Moscow’s airport several months ago on her way back to Israel from India.

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naama issachar

The officials also say they believe Issachar’s unusually harsh punishment is a result of Israel’s rejection of the Russian proposal. “You are the first leader I am speaking with after my visit in Washington for Trump’s Deal of the Century,” he said. “I think there is a new opportunity here, maybe even unique opportunity, and I’d like to discuss it with you and hear your insights.”

Earlier, an Israeli official said Issachar’s release was the result of a Russian goodwill gesture toward the US, stressing that Israel did not give the Kremlin anything in return. “Guided by the principles of humanity, I pardon Naama Issachar,” read the decree cited by the Kremlin. She has denied smuggling drugs, noting she had not sought to enter Russia during the layover and had no access to her luggage during her brief stay in Moscow.

He told reporters that he had the opportunity to discuss Donald Trump’s Middle East peace proposal, unveiled on Tuesday, with the Russian leader, as well as the situation in Syria. MOSCOW — An American-Israeli woman was pardoned on Wednesday, months after her severe punishment on charges of having a small amount of marijuana had made her an unwitting pawn in a geopolitical game. Issachar was released from Russian prison after approximately 10 months on Jan. 30, 2020. She was arrested after about 10 grams of marijuana was discovered in her luggage during a layover in Moscow. Securing Issachar’s release could boost Netanyahu’s popularity ahead of the March 2 elections, the third in less than a year after the prime minister failed to form a government in the previous two rounds of voting. Before Issachar was released, Israeli officials reportedly turned down an offer by Moscow to swap her for Russian national Aleksei Burkov, whose website facilitated more than $20 million in credit card fraud.

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She thanked Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was set to leave for Moscow later Wednesday from Washington to discuss President Trump’s Middle East peace plan with the Russian leader. Issachar’s mother, Yaffa, reacted to the pardon by saying, “This is the moment I waited for almost a year. Right now all I want is to hug my daughter Naama,” according to the Times of Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Putin on Thursday, welcomed the pardon. Alicia Victoria Lozano is a California-based reporter for NBC News focusing on climate change, wildfires and the changing politics of drug laws. “I think there’s so much power in what we train our minds to think,” she continued. “There was something that I read, and it really changed everything that I thought. It was a quote that said if you can’t change anything else, you can choose to change your mind. It was so simple.” Watching Griner’s ordeal play out in the media has resurfaced some of her darkest memories, Issachar said. While Issachar languished in a cell, slowly learning Russian and writing in her journal, a political tête-à-tête was playing out behind closed doors.

  • Netanyahu arrived in Moscow Thursday morning, and met with Vladimir Putin, before bringing Issachar back to Israel on the official plane.
  • Earlier, an Israeli official said Issachar’s release was the result of a Russian goodwill gesture toward the United States, stressing that Israel did not give Moscow anything in return.
  • Her attorney previously noted that no convicted foreigner was ever pardoned by a Russian President before.
  • Issachar was arrested in April for drug smuggling after a small amount of hashish was found in her luggage during a layover in a Moscow airport.
  • “There was something that I read, and it really changed everything that I thought. It was a quote that said if you can’t change anything else, you can choose to change your mind. It was so simple.”
  • The pardon, issued by President Vladimir V. Putin, came on the eve of a visit to Moscow by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Last week, Israeli media linked Issachar’s possible pardon with the reported decision by Israeli authorities to pass control of the Alexander courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City to Russia. Vladimir Putin has pardoned a US-Israeli woman sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for drug trafficking, hours before Israel’s prime minister was expected to arrive in the Russian capital. Her case has drawn comparisons to the case of Griner, the WNBA basketball star whopleaded guilty last week to drug charges in a Moscow court. She faces up to 10 years in prison as her family and friends step up calls for the U.S. government to do more to free her.

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Russian authorities said they found 9g (0.3oz) of cannabis in her checked luggage. While she was imprisoned, she taught herself Russian to better understand how her case was unfolding. She circulated through several facilities, https://sober-house.org/ including the one where Griner is believed to be held now, and a women’s detention center where she awaited trial for six months. She waited 20 hours for information, giving her enough time to contact the Israeli Embassy.

Netanyahu to bring U.S.-Israeli woman pardoned by Putin back to Israel

Shortly after Ms. Issachar was sentenced, however, Israel went ahead with his extradition to the United States. The woman, Naama Issachar, was arrested in April after Russian officials said they found marijuana in her luggage during an airline stopover in Moscow while en route from India to Israel. The amount — 9.5 grams, about a third of an ounce — would normally result in no more than a month’s detention, a fine and deportation from Russia. Naama Issachar, 26, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo international airport in April 2019, as she travelled from India to Israel.

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Her mom jumped on a plane to Russia and spent the next 10 months helping secure her daughter’s release. Issachar said this week that her “heart dropped” in 2019 when Russian authorities discovered a small plastic bag tucked inside a fanny pack. She had been traveling home to Israel from India, where she backpacked for three months and studied yoga, and her layover was delayed by several hours.

According to a senior Israeli official involved in the matter, Israel did not sign a deal with Russia to release Issachar, but rather it was “as a gesture by President Vladimir Putin to Netanyahu.” Ms. Issachar, who was born in New Jersey but lives in Israel, was still being held late Wednesday, though officials said they expected her to be freed on Thursday. Her release is likely to help Mr. Netanyahu’s chances in Israel’s March 2 election. The pardon, issued by President Vladimir V. Putin, came on the eve of a visit to Moscow by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The two leaders are expected to talk about the Middle East plan proposed by President Trump this week. There she shared a cell with 40 other women and was allowed outside only one hour a day.

Netanyahu stressed to Putin that even if he wanted to make such a deal, the supreme court’s ruling made it impossible. The proposed Russian deal was discussed, the Israeli officials say, and Netanyahu stressed to Putin that the punishment sought by Russian prosecutors for Issachar was disproportionate. eco sober house boston In late August, the Israeli supreme court approved Borkov’s extradition to the U.S. He was arrested in 2015 while vacationing in Israel after Israeli authorities received an Interpol red notice. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.

Naama’s release was done as a gesture by President Putin to the US,” said a senior official on an inter-ministerial committee dealing with the case, the Israeli news outlet reported. The mother also met Putin during his official visit to Israel last week and told local media that he had “promised” to send her daughter back home. Sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, Issachar asked for a presidential pardon after Putin met her mother during a visit to Jerusalem last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday pardoned an American-Israeli woman who was sentenced to more than seven years behind bars for drug trafficking, the Kremlin said. Israeli media reports alleged that Russia hoped to use Issachar as a bargaining chip to persuade Israeli authorities to send Burkov home even though Russian officials never linked the issues. Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Issachar on Wednesday, with the Kremlin saying a presidential decree pardoning her on “humanitarian principles” was effective immediately.

Russia attempted to use an Israeli-American woman sentenced today to 7.5 years in prison on drug charges as a bargaining chip in a failed prisoner swap, Israeli officials tell me. Customs officials found 9 grams of marijuana in her suitcase, and she was arrested for drug possession. Several weeks later, the charges were increased to attempted drug smuggling. A monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin is seen in front of a Moscow-region penal colony where Naama Issachar, a U.S.-Israeli woman jailed on drug charges, was serving her sentence before being released on January 30, 2020. The prime minister told reporters during the flight to Israel that Israeli officials had taken special interest in her release of Naama Issachar, because there was a danger to strategic relations with Russia.

Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. Putin said Russia and Israel have made progress “on several bilateral issues,” without specifying further, adding that he granted Issachar pardon “mostly thanks to her mother, but we must remember she did commit a felony.” Netanyahu arrived in Moscow Thursday morning, and met with Vladimir Putin, before bringing Issachar back to Israel on the official plane. In December, Issachar lost an appeal against her sentence, which Netanyahu had described as disproportionate.

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