“Doesn't understand why she is being tried”: an Israeli woman convicted of drug smuggling on a flight through Moscow

The Khimki City Court on September 11 found guilty of an Israeli and US citizen, Naamu Issahar, for drug smuggling. Issakhar was sentenced to 7.5 years in a penal colony. This was told by RT lawyer Issachar Alexander Taits.

As RT reported, Naama Issahar, a 26-year-old Israeli and U.S. citizen, was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport on April 9, 2019 - customs officers found 9.6 grams of hash in her baggage. Issakhar had a connecting flight in Moscow - it flew from India to Tel Aviv. During a baggage check in a picking room in Issachar's backpack, a narcotic substance was discovered.

The girl did not deny that it was her drugs. She explained to law enforcement officers that she had been living in India for three months, where the storage of so much hash was allowed, and put the drug in a suitcase for a long time, and, collecting things on a trip, forgot to take it out.

The Israeli woman was arrested by indictment under Art. 228 of the Criminal Code ("Illegal possession of narcotic substances"), the maximum sanction for which is three years in prison. However, later in the prosecutor’s office they saw in the actions of the foreigner another crime - under part 2 of article 229.1 of the Criminal Code ("Drug smuggling"), providing for up to ten years in prison. After an additional investigation, the case was sent to court.

It is worth noting that the girl checked in her luggage at the starting point of the route and did not have access to it in Russia. Moreover, Issakhar did not pass customs control at Sheremetyevo. For four hours, during which she was waiting for a flight to Israel, the girl was in the so-called sterile zone - the territory between the checkpoint at the airport and the plane.

Since Issakhar did not go through the customs point and did not even intend to do so, the Issakhar defense insisted on the illegality of the charge of smuggling. The girl pleaded guilty to a lighter article on drug possession. It is noteworthy that lawyers interviewed by RT also noted that the girl was unreasonably accused of smuggling a prohibited substance.

The verdict will be appealed.

Defense Issakhar intends to appeal the decision of the Khimki city court.

“An appeal will be filed against the verdict,” said attorney Alexander Taits in an interview with RT. - I still think that Naama’s actions do not contain a corpus delicti under the article on smuggling. I did not have time to read the sentence yet - I need to analyze it in more detail. At the same time, I did not hear the court refer to any new evidence of the guilt of my client. ”

According to the interlocutor, for the Israeli woman a harsh sentence was a shock.

“Of course, she completely does not understand what is happening, for which she is being judged,” says Taits.

Russian hacker asks for an exchange

As RT reported, after Issakhar was detained, relatives of the Russian "hacker" Alexei Burkov, who was arrested in Israel, began to seek his exchange for a girl.

Burkov has been in an Israeli prison for almost four years now - he was arrested at the request of the United States in December 2015. US intelligence agencies accuse the Russian of hacking. Burkov himself denies the allegations. Moreover, Russia has been seeking the extradition of Burkov for three years, however, the request for extradition of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation has not yet been considered.

In September 2019, the Burkov family sent an appeal to the Russian Foreign Ministry with a request to initiate negotiations with Israel on the exchange of Burkov for the Israeli woman Naama Issahar arrested in Russia.

According to the Russian sister Natalia Burkova, the family did not receive an official response to the appeal to the Foreign Ministry.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond to RT’s request, but after a wave of publications on the exchange of Issakhar to Burkov in the Israeli media, the situation was commented on in the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The extradition of Burkov cannot be prevented after the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court,” the Netanyahu office said in a statement.

The press release also notes that the Prime Minister discussed Issakhar’s case with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Sochi, as well as during a telephone conversation. Netanyahu asked to ease the punishment and improve the conditions of Israeli women in prison.

In turn, Russian diplomats previously explained to RT that the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court has not yet been signed by the Minister of Justice Amir Ohana - until that moment, Burkov could not be extradited.

The Russian Embassy in Israel explained that even if Ohana signs a decision on extradition, it will be appealed by Burkova’s defense. According to Russian diplomats, there have been no official appeals from the Israeli side on the exchange of prisoners from the Israeli authorities.