Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American backpacker jailed in Russia on drug charges, was released from prison on after 10 months, the Russian prison service said Thursday morning.
"Due to the presidential decree on pardoning, Naama Issachar has been freed from prison," the agency said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Issachar on Wednesday.
Issachar, 26, was arrested in April after police found nine grams of cannabis in her bags during a stopover at a Moscow airport, en route from India to Israel. Sentenced to seven and a half years in jail, Issachar petitioned for a presidential pardon after Putin met her mother during a visit to Jerusalem last week.
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"Guided by the principle of humanity, I hereby order that Naama Issachar be pardoned," read Putin's decree, which the Kremlin said took immediate effect.
Russian media reported that Issachar is slated to fly back to Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Moscow on Thursday and will meet with Putin.
A senior member of the team that headed the efforts to see Issachar was released stressed that Israel has given Russia nothing in return for the move. Instead, Moscow acted as a goodwill gesture vis-á-vis the US and sought to bolster its relations with Israel as well, releasing her as a gesture to Netanyahu.
He further explained that "the state acted in this case, not only because of the mutual guarantee that is true for other cases as well, but with a desire to resolve an issue that could hurt the sensitive relationship between Israel and Russia, and in light of the assessment that the state's stance on another matter proved in her detriment.
"The various gestures Israel offered Russia further sought to bolster ties in light of other issues between the two countries," he said.
Earlier in January, Israel released two prisoners with links to Syria in what was seen as a goodwill gesture towards Moscow, a key Damascus ally, in hopes to set the stage for Issachar's release.
