Boston
AP
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A scientist of Russian origin and researcher at the University of Harvard, who was already faced with expulsion in Russia, was accused on Wednesday of trying to pass frog embryos in the country.
Kseniia Petrova, 30, was sent to an American immigration and customs installation in Louisiana after her arrest in February. She continues to wait for a judge’s decision to know if she will be deported to Russia, where she fears that she is imprisoned or worse. An audience on her case took place on Wednesday at Vermont.
But in the last torsion of the case, the federal prosecutors accused him of a contraband chief in the United States. He says it was placed on Wednesday. If he is found guilty, Petrova risks a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000.
A Petrova lawyer could not be joined to comment. It is not known if it is moved from the installation of ice.
Petrova was on vacation in France, where she stopped in a laboratory specializing in splicing superfine frog embryos and obtained a packet of samples to use for research.
While it was passing through a customs control point and American border protection at Boston Logan International Airport, Petrova was asked about the samples. Petrova told the Associated Press in an interview last month that she had not realized that the articles should be declared and tried anything to sneak in. After an interrogation, Petrova was informed that his visa was canceled.
“The truth is on my side,” said Petrova, who spoke with the AP during a video call from the Louisiana Ice Detention Center in Monroe.
The Ministry of Internal Security said in a press release on the social platform X that Petrova had been detained after having “lied to the federal officers on the transport of substances in the country”. They lighten messages on her phone “revealed that she planned to pass the materials through customs without declaring them.”
Federal prosecutors said Petrova had been arrested by customs and border protection agents after a law enforcement alerted them from his checked sports bag. During the inspection, the frog’s embryos were discovered in a foam box. She initially denied having worn any organic material in her checkered luggage, prosecutors said, but recognized her later.
Petrova’s boss and mentor Leon Peshkin said in an interview last month that the samples were in no way dangerous or biohazard.
“I don’t think she did something wrong,” Peshkin told AP. “But even if she did it, she should have got a warning at most or maybe a fine of up to $ 500.”
Harvard said in a statement that the university “continues to monitor the situation”.
Petrova told AP that she had left her country to avoid conflicts or possible political repression. She fled after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, marking the start of a bloody three -year war.
“If I come back, I’m afraid of being imprisoned because of my political position and my position against war,” said Petrova.
Petrova’s case is closely monitored by the scientific community, some fearing that this may have an impact on the recruitment and retention of foreign scientists in American universities.
“I think there is a bad perception that foreign scientists have somehow favored to be in the United States. I think it is the opposite,” said Peshkin. “Foreign scientists come here with gifts … These are highly qualified experts who are in demand. They enrich the American scientific community. ”