Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American woman who spent almost a year in a Russian prison after being convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, and was later pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has opened up for the first time on her ordeal.
In an interview with NBC, Naama described the events leading up to her arrest, including the discovery of a small amount of cannabis in her luggage. She had been waiting in Moscow for a connecting flight back home to Israel, following a trip to India, and protested throughout that someone else must have placed the drugs among her possessions.
"I didn't know the drugs were in my bag -- it wasn't something I did," she told NBC. "When they discovered the bag with the marijuana in it, my heart sank."
Issachar knew no Russian and no interpreter was provided, only adding to her feelings of horror and trepidation. She appealed for help from the Israeli embassy.
"I knew that the situation was terrible, but I didn't realize how bad it actually was going to get," Issachar noted. "Russia has some of the toughest laws on drug smuggling in the world."
Issachar was taken to jail pending her trial. While there, she taught herself to speak some Russian in order to be able to make some sense of what was going on around her. Half a year passed before her case came to court, time that she spent in a cell with forty other female inmates, without even basic hygienic provisions -- she relied on her mother, who flew out to Moscow, to bring her even basics like toilet paper and shampoo.
Issachar is now writing a book about her experiences, and told NBC how she tried to retain a positive outlook throughout her ordeal, making friends among her cellmates and even thanking the prison guards for small favors and kindnesses.
"I separated the great people in power deciding whether I'm there or not from the people who I saw on a day-to-day basis," she described. "I think that's why I was able to smile to the prison guards, say thank you, be grateful, pray honestly with my whole heart, thinking, 'Wow, my life is so rich, so filled with, like, love and compassion.'"
The interview with Issachar comes at a time when basketball star Britney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and is at present in a Russian prison, her ultimate fate still hanging in the air. Asked what she would like to tell Griner, Issachar said, "Try to smile, because even if it seems like it doesn't help, it does."