Issachar family nixes appeal to extradite Russian hacker

Yaffa Issachar, the mother of Naama Issachar, the Israeli citizen who has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for a minor drug charge, retracted a petition she filed last week with the High Court of Justice against its decision to approve the extradition to the US of alleged Russian hacker Alexei Burkov.

According to a family friend, concerns arose that should legal proceedings over Burkov’s case drag out, his ongoing detention in Israel could stymie diplomatic efforts to make progress on Naama’s release.

The family was informed as such by Israeli diplomatic officials in Israel, the family friend said, and that when Yaffa Issachar understood that the legal proceedings would not lead to Burkov’s repatriation to Russia, but instead his ongoing detention in Israel, she decided to withdraw the petition.

In a document filed to the High Court, Naama’s lawyers said the petition was being withdrawn due to “developments in the case, and matters between the family of the petitioner and the diplomatic officials dealing with the issue.” They did not specify what those developments were.

Last month, the Supreme Court rejected the final appeal of Burkov against his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of credit card fraud. Justice Minister Amir Ohana subsequently approved the extradition order.

Yaffa Issachar filed a High Court petition against the justice minister’s decision, since Moscow has seemingly tied Burkov’s fate to that of Naama and is apparently using her as a bargaining chip in its efforts to prevent Burkov from being extradited to the US.

The High Court issued a temporary injunction against the extradition while it considered the petition.

According the document submitted to retract the petition, Israeli officials convinced Yaffa Issachar of the country’s legal obligation to help Israelis and Jews in captivity.

The document said, “The State of Israel is operating on the matter… through different procedures that are not usually taken in other cases where Israeli citizens are prosecuted in foreign countries, due to the uniqueness of the case and its extreme circumstances.”

Yaffa Issachar said on Tuesday that she had retracted the petition “after unbearably hard misgivings.”

“Naama will not be a tool in the hands of the Russian hacker and his people,” Yaffa said. “I pray that my decision does not cause a worsening in Naama’s situation in the Russian prison.”