On Wednesday, the Department of Justice accused a Harvard medical researcher who was arrested at a Boston airport for “non -infectious and non -toxic frog embryos” found in his luggage that prosecutors claim that he was trying to pass illegally contraband illegally to the United States.
The charges against Kseniia Petrova were announced only a few hours after their lawyers appeared in a federal court in Vermont by an habit hearing in which they argued against their possible deportation to Russia, where he faced the persecution previously for his political activities.
The United States Prosecutor’s Office in Massachusetts said Wednesday that Petrova, who was detained at a detention center in Louisiana, was put into federal custody after the insult of the charges.
A member of the Petrova legal team told ABC News that she had been transferred to a federal prison center.
“It does not matter how difficult it is that the government is the application of the immigration law, they have to follow the law,” said Petrova’s lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, in a statement to ABC News. “At today’s hearing in the United States District Court in Vermont, we established that the cancellation of the Kseniia visa was based on its alleged customs violation. The law does not allow it.”
“Almost immediately after the hearing, we were surprised by the insulgence of a criminal complaint without merit. The time of Kseniia transfer out of ice custody to criminal custody is especially suspicious because it happened just after the judge in Vermont established a bond hearing for his release,” Romanovsky said. “The position, presented three months after the alleged violation of customs, is clearly intended to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify his efforts to deport it.”
During Wednesday’s habit hearing in Vermont, a federal judge in Vermont pressed the Department of Justice about the government’s decision to revoke the Petrova visa after she was arrested on frog embryos.
Petrova, according to a complaint filed in February, told the CBP officer that he was afraid to be returned to Russia, where he faced the persecution of his political activities, and instead requested to be returned to France, at which time he was arrested.
“You are asking for your removal to Russia, right?” The American District Judge Christina Reiss asked government lawyers at Wednesday’s hearing.
“Yes, honor,” said Justice lawyer Jeffrey Hartman.
During the hearing, Judge Reiss asked Hartman about what authority the CBP looked for to revoke the Petrova visa.
“Where does a customs officer and border patrol have the authority on your own to revoke a visa?” Judge Reiss asked. “And it has to be somewhere, because there is no way that this person has a kind of unlimited determination. Isn’t it the only authority to impose a fine?
A photo without date of Kseniia Petrova.
Courtesy lawyer Greg Romanovsky
In response, Hartman said Petrova lied about embryos when CBP interrogated her.
“A person who makes a material misrepresentation and seeks admission is inadmissible,” said Hartman.
Judge Reiss said he did not see the argument made by the Department of Justice as reasons for extraction.
Petrova appeared remotely at the hearing of the detention center in Louisiana, where they have stopped her since she was arrested. During the hearing, Hartman argued that the Federal Court in Vermont has no jurisdiction over the Petrova hearing and said that the appropriate place is an immigration court in Louisiana.
“But she is only detained there because you translated it,” Judge Reiss said.
The judge scheduled a bail hearing for May 28.
Petrova previously told ABC News in an interview that after CBP officers registered their luggage and asked him about the samples, he told them about his investigation in Harvard and how he hoped to take the signs of return to his laboratory.
“It would be a great opportunity to recover these samples and finish their preparation in our laboratory in Boston, and outline them there,” Petrova said.
She told ABC News that she believes that her arrest was too hard.
“I would like to say that something is completely out of control here,” Petrova said. “I think my cases were an example of showing how the system does not really work.”
