Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American woman jailed in Russia for drug offenses, filed a formal request for a presidential pardon on Sunday.
The request, filed by attorney’s working on Naama’s behalf Sunday morning, asks Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Naama, allowing her to return home to Israel.
Issachar "decided to ask the Russian president for a pardon and a written request has been filed," her attorneys said in a statement Sunday.
Naama, a 26-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen, was arrested during a layover in Moscow last April while she was returning home to Israel from a trip to India, after marijuana was found in her luggage.
While Naama denied packing the marijuana in her bags, a Russian court found her guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced her to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
After an appeal was rejected, Naama’s mother, Yaffa, along with senior Israeli authorities, lobbied Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene on Naama’s behalf.
Last week, Putin signaled that he would be receptive to a request for a presidential pardon, telling Yaffa Issachar that “Everything will be fine”.
Later, a Kremlin spokesperson said that it was waiting for a formal request for a pardon to beginning deliberations on the issue.