Netanyahu formally asks Putin to pardon Naama Issaschar

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes an official request of Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to pardon an Israeli-American jailed for smuggling cannabis who is caught up in a prisoner exchange request.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office says the prime minister sent Putin a letter requesting that Russia release 26-year-old backpacker Naama Issachar.

Issachar was caught with nine grams of marijuana in her checked luggage while transiting from India to Israel at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in April. She was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail by a Russian court on Friday, with Moscow reportedly seeking an exchange of a prisoner set to be extradited by Israel to the United States for her release.

Israeli officials have blasted Issachar’s sentence as disproportionate, and have called on Russia to release her. Netanyahu brought up Issachar’s detention in a conversation with Putin last week, while President Reuven Rivlin penned a personal appeal to the Russian leader this week, asking for his “mercy and compassion” in her case.