An appeal by Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American backpacker held in Russia on drug smuggling charges, is being heard in a Moscow court.
Issachar, present in the courtroom in a glass box, tells the judge and gathered gobs of Israeli press that she was misled and made to sign a forged confession that she could not even read.
She says she does not know how the small amount of marijuana found in her bag got there and alleges that she was compelled by Russian border guards who had seen the drugs in her bag to go through passport control so they could accuse her of smuggling. She was passing through the airport on her way from India to Israel.
She was sentenced to 7.5 years earlier this year.
“The search was done not according to law with many serious issues. The papers she signed were in contravention of the Russian criminal code and so we request all the evidence in her file be purged,” her lawyer is quoted saying by Channel 12 news.
A decision is expected at the end of the hearing.
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 19, 2019
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