RT correspondent and member of the Public Observation Commission of the Moscow Region Daniil Lomakin visited a pre-trial detention center in the village of Novo Grishino near Moscow, where the Israeli Naama Issahar, who has been sentenced to 7.5 years in a general regime colony for smuggling 9.6 grams of hash, has been in prison for several months.
Issakhar sits in a cell with three girls who are charged under Article 159 of the Criminal Code (Fraud). The administration of the institution specifically selected for Issakhar cellmates who know at least a little English. They act as translators in the communication of the Israeli woman with the prison staff. Thanks to Naama, the girls are tightening their English, and in turn are teaching the Israeli woman the Russian language. After six months in Russian prisons, Issakhar already speaks fairly well Russian.
“We listen to Russian songs on the radio, Yegor Creed, for example,” Issakhar laughs. “The girls are translating me.” I love".
Issakhar assured human rights activists that she had no complaints about food or medical care.
“They feed well, they give me the medicines that are needed. Even vitamins were given out, ”she says.
Birthday in a Russian prison
Together with her cellmates, Issahar, who worked as a yoga instructor prior to her arrest, is engaged in exercises. Recently, the girl celebrated her birthday in jail - she turned 26 years old.
- Namma Issahar in the cell
- © FSIN
In an interview with members of the PMC, an Israeli woman notes that most of all in detention she does not have enough meetings with a rabbi. Since the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia has not concluded an agreement with the Jewish religious community, a rabbi can come to a detainee only as part of a regular meeting. According to the management of IK-1, permission to visit Rabbi Issahar was given; on the appointed day, no one came to the colony.
Another problem Issakhar faced in custody was the ban on phone calls to relatives.
“We filed a petition with the court to let me call my mother and sister, but it has not yet been considered,” she explains.
Several times, American diplomats visited the girl in jail. An employee of the Israeli embassy in Moscow at the same time, according to Issakhar, came only once - in the spring, immediately after the arrest.
Issakhar knows about the scale of the scandal that erupted around her arrest and possible exchange for the Russian "hacker" Alexei Burkov, who was arrested in Israel, only from the words of his mother and lawyer. There is a TV set in the cell, but the plots about the Israeli woman have not yet been released on the channels that are available in the pre-trial detention center.
“Of course, I am glad that I am so strongly supported in Israel and the USA, but there is not much pleasant in such fame,” Issakhar smiles. - I really want to get home. I hope that such a publicity will help. ”
Around the same time, while Issakhar spoke with members of the PMC, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had previously asked for the girl’s pardon.
Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov said that the leaders of the countries during the telephone conversation discussed, among other things, the fate of Issakhar.
“This topic has been heard, and it has been touched upon to one degree or another,” said Ushakov.
Extradition, pardon or exchange
As RT reported, after the detention of Issakhar in Russia, 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 four years - 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. At the same time, Russia has been seeking the extradition of Burkov for three years, however, the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office for extradition has not yet been considered.
The Burkov family told RT that they had sent an appeal to the Russian Foreign Ministry with a request to initiate negotiations with Israel on the exchange of Burkov to Issakhar.
After the publication of RT, the Israeli Prime Minister’s administration said that such an exchange is impossible, since the Russian should be extradited to the United States by decision of the Supreme Court. However, in order for the extradition to take place, this decision must be signed by Israeli Minister of Justice Amir Ohana. In an interview with Israeli media, Ohana said he would make a decision in the coming days.