The High Court of Justice on Sunday ordered a temporary postponement of the extradition to the United States of Russian IT specialist Aleksey Burkov, who the family of an Israeli-American woman imprisoned in Russia on drug-related charges had hoped would be used to secure her release.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Burkov has been in Israeli custody since 2015 and is wanted in the United States for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from American consumers in a massive credit card scheme.
Naama Issachar, 26, was arrested in April after 10 grams of marijuana were found in her luggage during a stopover in Moscow, and sentenced to 7 years in prison for drug trafficking.
Her harsh sentence, even though she had argued that she never intended to sell drugs in Russia, or even to leave the airport, led supporters to believe Issachar was being used as a pawn to secure the transfer of Burkov to Russia.
Last week, Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed Burkov's extradition order, over the protests of Issachar's family. Ohana said he signed the order only after careful deliberation.
Following the signing of the extradition order, both Burkov and Issachar's family submitted petitions to the High Court against the extradition.
The court on Sunday ruled that the extradition would be postponed until Burkov's petition is discussed and a ruling was issued.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
