MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2020) Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova intends to support the request for pardon of Israeli woman Naama Issachar who is serving a prison term in Russia for drug trafficking, the ombudswoman's office said in a statement.
"Employees of the office of the human rights commissioner in the Russian Federation helped Naama draw up a request for pardon. T. N. Moskalkova intends to support the petition addressed to the [Russian] president [Vladimir Putin]," the statement says.
Pen & Paper, a law firm addressing Naama Issachar's case, told Sputnik on Friday that the Israeli woman's defense was going to discuss with her the possibility of asking Putin for pardon.
Earlier, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a request for Issachar's pardon to Putin, and the woman's mother asked the president to pardon her daughter.
Putin met with Naama's mother on Thursday during a visit to Israel and, in response to the woman's feelings, said that "everything will be fine." Moskalkova, who came to visit the convicted Israeli national on Thursday, stated that she had not received any requests from her regarding the conditions of detention.
Issachar, who has dual Israeli-US citizenship, was arrested in April 2019 during a layover in Moscow while she was on her way to Israel from India. Police found some nine grams (0.3 ounces) of cannabis in her bags. Issachar was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. The penalty has been harshly criticized in Israel as "disproportionate" since the amount of drugs found was allowed for personal use in Israel, though it is considered illegal in Russia.
