The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it was impossible for Issachar to be granted a presidential pardon without her first formally requesting one.
REUTERS LAHAV HARKOV
JANUARY 24, 2020 14:00
The Kremlin said on Friday that the possible release of Naama Issachar, an American-Israeli woman jailed in Russia on drug charges, was being held up because she had not yet formally asked to be granted a pardon.
Naama, 26, is an American-Israeli serving a 7.5-year sentence in a Russian prison for possession of 9.5 grams of cannabis.
In a meeting at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassured Yaffa Issachar, Naama Issachar’s mother, that “everything will be alright.”
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it was impossible for Issachar to be granted a presidential pardon without her first formally requesting one.
Naama’s attorneys are planning on discussing with Naama in the coming days statements made by Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Petrov saying that Naama must personally request a pardon from Putin. The attorneys stressed that this will have to be her own personal decision and that they would announce her decision when she makes one.
Netanyahu has officially asked Putin for a humanitarian pardon of the woman, who was arrested in April 2019 at a Moscow airport en route from India to Israel.
According to Yaffa Issachar, Putin told her “I will return your girl home,” but he did not say when. She described Putin as charming and down-to-earth.
Netanyahu said after the meeting, “We have just finished an excellent meeting, at the end of which President Putin requested Yaffa to join in on the discussion, Naama Issachar’s mother.”
Putin said: “It’s clear that Naama comes from a very good family. I know the honorable prime minister’s stance… All that is being taken into consideration at the time of making a decision.”
Putin arrived in Israel on Thursday for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem, where he was slated to give an address and then to return to Russia the same day.
Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova visited Issachar in prison to oversee her conditions and told Channel 12 she looks well. Together with Issachar and her three cellmates, Moskalkova watched Putin’s meeting with Yaffa Issachar.
“I was very excited to see my mother meeting such important people,” Issachar said. “I am still here, but I believe what Putin said. If he says everything will be OK, I believe everything will be OK.”
Moskalkova told Channel 12: “They have a TV in jail, and they watched Putin’s meeting with Naama’s mother. Her cellmates even said they cried a little. They were all surprised that the Russian president shows such level of compassion and humanity by meeting and supporting the mother of a simple woman… [Putin’s] words inspired Naama and put hope in her for a quick return to her country.”
Moskalkova said her jail visit had nothing to do with the request to pardon Issachar, adding that she does not have that authority.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Russia-says-Issachar-not-yet-asked-for-pardon-delaying-possible-release-615233.
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