- Title: Moscow court rejects appeal by U.S.-Israeli jailed for airport transit drugs
- Date: 19th December 2019
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 19, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.S.-ISRAELI NAAMA ISSACHAR WHO WAS JAILED IN RUSSIA FOR 7.5 YEARS AFTER DRUGS WERE FOUND IN HER LUGGAGE IN DEFENDANT CAGE / PEOPLE GATHERING IN FRONT OF COURT DOORS ISSACHAR SMILING ISSACHAR IN DEFENDANT CAGE POLICEMAN NEAR CAGE VARIOUS OF ISSACHAR IN DEFENDANT CAGE, IN FRONT OF HER LAWYER, LISTENING TO COURT'S DECISION ISSACHAR WITH LAWYER / VOICE HEARD ON BACKGROUND, SAYING: "IT IS NOT HEARD", JUDGE SAYING: "THE SENTENCE REMAINS UNCHANGED" / ISSACHAR SPEAKING TO HER LAWYER ISSACHAR IN DEFENDANT CAGE PEOPLE, POLICE GATHERING OUTSIDE COURTROOM SISTER OF NAAMA ISSACHAR, LIAD GOLDBERG, SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) SISTER OF NAAMA ISSACHAR, LIAD GOLDBERG, SAYING: "She hasn't had any problems, my sister, it sounds weird to say, but she makes friends everywhere she goes. She's learned the language quite well, she speaks it almost fluently. She has made a little circle of friends inside the prison. She is physically safe but we worry for her mental and her emotional well-being." ISSACHAR'S LAWYER, VADIM KLYUVGANT, SITTING IN CORT'S HALL, SIGNING PAPERS GOLDBERG AND MOTHER OF NAAMA ISSACHAR, YAFFA ISSACHAR, GATHERING NEAR COURTROOM PEOPLE ENTERING COURTROOM PEOPLE GATHERING NEAR COURTROOM GOLDBERG, SITTING IN HALL, WIPING AWAY TEARS, TALKING TO YAFFA ISSACHAR ISSACHAR'S LAWYER, VADIM KLYUVGANT, SPEAKING IN FRONT OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ISSACHAR'S LAWYER, VADIM KLYUVGANT, SAYING: "There was no justice in this case earlier, and there still isn't any, unfortunately. There was no crime in this case before and it did not suddenly appear, nobody has disproved our arguments, so we are waiting for justice in this case, and it should get justice someday." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ISSACHAR'S LAWYER, VADIM KLYUVGANT, SAYING: "We think that we have to fight further." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ISSACHAR'S LAWYER, VADIM KLYUVGANT, SAYING: "Especially on the charge of drug smuggling, there is no single sign of any crime. The crime is a legal category, it is divided into the components, not a single one of these components is present (in this case), in short. If in more detail, the whole of our appeal, all our work today, was about this." PEOPLE WITH SMARTPHONES LISTENING TO KLYUVGANT PEOPLE, JOURNALISTS IN COURT'S HALL COURT'S EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 2nd January 2020 17:59
- Keywords: Issachar's appeal Naama Issachar Russia - Israel Russia airport Russia court Russia jail drugs
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAN6RLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Moscow court on Thursday (December 19) rejected an appeal by U.S.-Israeli woman, Naama Issachar, who was jailed in Russia for 7.5 years after drugs were found in her luggage.
Issachar appeared in Moscow court and was seen in the defendant's cage; her mother, Yaffa Issachar, and sister, Liad Goldberg, came to support her, saying that they were worried about her.
"She is physically safe but we worry for her mental and her emotional well-being." Goldberg said. The sister was seen in the court's hall wiping away tears.
The sentence remained unchanged, but Issachar's lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant believes that there is no evidence for the charge.
"There was no crime in this case before and it did not suddenly appear" he said. "...We think that we have to fight further."
Naama Issachar, 25, was arrested in April in Moscow airport, while en route from India to Israel. She was accused of carrying 9 grams of cannabis, her family said. Russian authorities charged her with drug smuggling.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said the ruling was "heavy" and "disproportionate" given the circumstances of Issachar's arrest, a reference to her having not intended to enter Russia with drugs.
Asked to respond to the allegation, a spokesman for Russia's embassy in Israel said the Foreign Ministry in Moscow does not interfere in Russian judicial affairs.
According to the Moscow Times newspaper, Russian authorities consider possession of more than 6 grams of cannabis a criminal offense.
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