Naama Issachar filed an official request for a presidential pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Naama Issachar’s mother, Yaffa, flew to Moscow on Motzei Shabbos hoping that she’ll return to Israel shortly with her daughter. “I hope to return with Naama and I hope that this is my last trip there,” Issachar said.

“Naama is confused because they were supposed to transfer her to a different prison but they didn’t. Maybe it’s a good sign. We’ll see what the lawyer says after he meets her.”

The Kremlin stated on Friday that Issacher’s release has been delayed due to the fact that she didn’t yet submit a formal request to be pardoned. Although Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have submitted requests for Issachar to be pardoned, apparently according to Russian law, the prisoner must submit a formal request as well.

The 26-year-old backpacker was arrested in April at a Moscow airport, where she was transferring en route from India to Israel. Russian authorities said more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage. She was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to Putin to pardon Issachar.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)