Israel's president has asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to pardon a young Israeli woman imprisoned on drug charges in Russia.
Naama Issachar was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison last week after being arrested at Moscow's international airport in April reportedly with 9.6 grams of marijuana in her bag.
The 26-year-old reportedly left the cannabis in her bag by mistake when travelling from India through Russia back to Israel. She has spent three months overseas.
Issachar was initially charged with cannabis possession, but the charge was upgraded in May to smuggling drugs into Russia.
Israeli officials have indicated Russia is using the case to push for the release of an alleged Russian hacker that Israel is in the process of extraditing to the US.
In a letter to Putin on Sunday, President Reuven Rivlin called the Russian sentence "severe" and said it would have a "deeply destructive impact on her life."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he has also raised the matter with Putin.
© AAP 2024
