Israel's KAN News reported on Tuesday that Issachar had been moved to a different prison with worse conditions and was denied visits from her mother.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFNaama Issachar(photo credit: MAARIV)Naama Issachar, the American-Israeli woman held in Russian prison after being convicted of drug trafficking, was moved back to Iksha Juvenile Correctional Facility, where she was held until a hearing on her appeal two weeks ago.Israel’s KAN News reported on Tuesday that Issachar had been moved to a different prison with worse conditions, was denied visits from her mother, was prohibited from receiving letters from her as well, and is currently in poor spirits.Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Israel in three weeks as part of the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, which will be held at Yad Vashem.Naama’s mother, Yaffa Issachar, in an interview with i24NEWS on Wednesday, was asked whether she thought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials should welcome him or clarify that he is not wanted in Israel, and responded, “I think that if he does not release Naama before he comes, I do not think he will be welcomed here. I am surprised by my government.”Issachar added that Naama’s sister spoke yesterday with Netanyahu, and he promised her that he was doing everything possible to return Naama, but “unfortunately he did not give a deadline and did not know when this will happen or how it will happen.”Issachar was traveling from India to Israel and had a layover in Moscow, when Russian authorities discovered she had 9.5 grams of cannabis in her luggage.In Israel, Issachar is largely seen as a victim of Russian brutality. It is believed she was arrested to pressure Israel into releasing a Russian national, Alexei Burkov, who was arrested in Israel and extradited to the US. Burkov is suspected of credit card fraud.
