Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with the mother of an Israeli tourist jailed in Russia for carrying a few grams of hashish, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
Putin will meet with Naama Issachar's mother during his visit to Israel on Thursday, his foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters. He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Holy Land, will also take part in the meeting.
Ushakov said that the meeting will focus on “the humanitarian aspect” of the issue, but wouldn't say if Putin could pardon Issachar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a children's art school in Usman, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Putin commented on his proposals to increase state support for families with children made in a state of the nation address last week. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Netanyahu long has asked Putin to pardon Issachar, who was arrested in April at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where she was transferring flights while travelling from India to Israel.
Russian authorities said more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage. Issachar was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison, and a higher court in Moscow upheld the verdict last month.
Asked about the reported Israeli decision to pass control over Alexander's Courtyard in Jerusalem's Old City to Russia to end a long-running controversy, Ushakov said it reflected warm Russia-Israeli relations, but he denied a link between the move and Issachar's fate.
Israeli Naama Issachar gestures during an appeal hearings in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. An Israeli backpacker serving prison time in Russia on a drug conviction is appealing her case and says she was wasn't provided a translator or lawyer after being detained at a Moscow airport. She was arrested in April in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where she was transferring flights en route from India to Israel. More than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage. She was later sentenced to 7 12 years. (AP PhotoAlexander Zemlianichenko Jr.)
“Legal formalities haven't been finalized yet, but a positive trend is visible,” he said about the property transfer. “The process is going in the right direction.”
Israeli Naama Issachar stands during an appeal hearings in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. An Israeli backpacker serving prison time in Russia on a drug conviction is appealing her case and says she was wasn't provided a translator or lawyer after being detained at a Moscow airport. She was arrested in April in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where she was transferring flights en route from India to Israel. More than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage. She was later sentenced to 7 12 years. (AP PhotoAlexander Zemlianichenko Jr.)