Israelite Naama Issahar, convicted in Russia for drug smuggling, asked the Russian president for pardon.

As the lawyers representing Issahar specified, the girl has already filed a motion.

According to lawyers, on January 26, they had a conversation with Issakhar about the need for appeal to be addressed to the President of Russia. Earlier, the press secretary of the head of the Russian state Dmitry Peskov said that the appeal is a formal necessity, and without it the process cannot develop.

“As a result of our discussion, Naama decided to appeal to the President of the Russian Federation for pardon and release, and she has already filed such a request in writing in the prescribed manner through the administration of the detention center in which she is located,” RIA Novosti reports Pen & Paper.

According to lawyers, Issakhar and her relatives "hope for the speedy adoption by the President of Russia, in accordance with his constitutional authority, of a decision on her pardon and release."

This information was confirmed by the mother of the convicted girl, Jaffa Issahar. According to her, the appeal has been sent, however, how long it will take to consider it has not yet been specified.

In turn, the Moscow Region pardon commission announced that they could consider the Israeli woman’s petition on Monday, January 27.

“The lawyers have finished the work. Documents were transferred to the administration of the correctional colony for registration. In the morning we will send them to the pardon commission in the Moscow region. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for 18:00 on Monday, ”Interfax quotes the deputy chairman of the commission, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Moscow Region, Ekaterina Semenova.

Earlier, human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova visited Issakhar in a pre-trial detention center. Following the meeting, the Ombudsman said that the condemned Israeli did not intend to file an independent petition for clemency.

“She did not write a petition for clemency, she believes that the appeal of her mother and the Israeli leadership is enough,” the Ombudsman quoted Interfax as saying.

Recall that a citizen of Israel and the United States, Naama Issahar was detained on April 9, 2019 at Sheremetyevo Airport. Customs officers found 9.6 grams of hash in her baggage. The girl’s flight was connecting from India to Tel Aviv.

Issahar confirmed that the hash found was hers. However, she stated that in India, where she had been for several months, the drug in this quantity is not prohibited.

At first, she was charged with a violation under the article “Illegal possession of narcotic substances” (Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), but later the prosecutor’s office found another crime under a more serious article - “Smuggling of drugs” (part 2 of Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The maximum penalty for it is up to ten years in prison.

The girl did not pass customs control in Russia, as a result of which the Issakhar defense insisted on the illegality of the charges of smuggling imputed to an Israeli woman, but the Israeli admitted guilt in possession of drugs.

The Khimki City Court on September 11 found Issakhar guilty, sentencing her to 7.5 years in a penal colony.

A month later, on October 13, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin sent a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin asking him to have mercy on the girl. Soon, a spokesman for the head of the Russian state, Dmitry Peskov, announced that Putin would be informed of the Israeli side’s appeal.

Subsequently, the Issakhar defense filed an appeal against the court’s decision, but on December 19, the court decided that the sentence would remain unchanged. The Prime Minister of Israel a few days later announced his intention to continue work on the release of the girl from prison.

In January 2020, Vladimir Putin visited Israel. During this visit, the release of Issakhar was discussed with the country's leadership. In addition, the Russian leader met with the mother of the convicted Israeli woman. Then the president said that Issakhar "everything will be fine."

“Mom is very worried, I see. I told her and I want to repeat again: everything will be fine, ”Putin said.