Following her release from federal jail on Thursday, a judge hugged and laughed with supporters of a Harvard University researcher and scientist who was born in Russia and is accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States.
Soon after her release, Kseniia Petrova remarked, “I just want to thank everybody,” outside the federal building in Boston.
She was wearing a T-shirt that read “Hakuna Matata,” which translates to “no worries” and is a well-known quote from “The Lion King.”
“A lot of people started contacting me and sending me letters, and it was a huge support without which I won’t be able to survive,” she stated.
“I never really felt alone any minute when I was in custody, and it’s really helped me very much,” Petrova continued.
Petrova, 30, had been in federal detention since February when he was hauled into court in an orange jumpsuit.
Both sides’ attorneys agreed on terms for Petrova’s release, including restricting her travel. Her passport is still being held by the authorities. The probable cause hearing for Petrova’s smuggling charge is scheduled for next week.
It’s supposed to be sunny. After approving the arrangement, Magistrate Judge Judith Dein stated, “Goodbye.”
Petrova’s lawyer, Greg Romanovsky, stated that his client has not yet “decided whether she wants to stay in the United States.”
“She has offers from different countries around the world, countries that are eager to support the important research that she’s doing. She’s weighing her options at the moment, and she’s very grateful to be out,” he stated.
Petrova was on her way back from a trip to France earlier this year, where she had grabbed a bundle of research samples from a facility that specialized in splicing extremely thin frog embryo sections.
As she went through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening at Boston Logan International Airport, she was asked about the samples.
Petrova was informed that her visa was being revoked during an interrogation.
After being briefly held by immigration authorities in Vermont, Petrova petitioned for her release. Later, she was sent to a Louisiana facility run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a statement posted on the social media site X, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that Petrova had been arrested for “lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.” Her phone messages “revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them,” according to the allegations.
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In an April interview, she stated that she was not attempting to smuggle anything into the nation and was unaware that certain items required to be declared.
In May, a federal judge in Vermont scheduled a hearing on Petrova’s petition, and she was accused of smuggling in Massachusetts. Later, the judge declared that Petrova did not pose a threat, that the immigration officials’ actions were illegal, and that the embryos were nonliving, nonhazardous, and “posed a threat to no one.”
Petrova was released from ICE custody by the judge, but prior to her release on Thursday, she was still being held by the U.S. Marshals Service on the smuggling allegation.
Academics and colleagues have spoken on Petrova’s behalf, stating that she is conducting important research to develop cancer therapies.
