U.S.-Israeli woman freed from Russian prison

Moscow — Russia’s prison service said Thursday that a US-Israeli woman jailed for drug trafficking has been freed from prison after President Vladimir Putin pardoned her.

“Due to the presidential decree on pardoning, Naama Issachar has been freed from prison,” the service said in a statement about the 26 year old.

A monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin is seen in front of a Moscow-region penal colony where Naama Issachar, a U.S.-Israeli woman jailed on drug charges, was serving her sentence before being released on January 30, 2020. TATYANA MAKEYEVA / REUTERS

Issachar, a New Jersey native, was arrested in April during a stopover at a Moscow airport after police said they found nine grams of cannabis in her bags, the Reuters news agency said. She was serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence.

Her release came with Putin set to have talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day, Reuters added.

Netanyahu welcomed the news and said he’d meet with Issachar, as well, Reuters reported.