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The Russian-born Harvard cancer researcher who has been locked in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility for the last 10 weeks released a statement blaming herself for failing to declare scientific samples she had packed in her luggage, but denied telling lies to immigration officials.
Kseniia Petrova, 30, flew from Paris to Boston on Feb. 16 with the frog embryo samples that her boss had asked her to bring back to the lab at Harvard Medical School.
“Because these embryos are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and non-infectious, I did not expect any issues in bringing them into the country,” she said. “I should have reviewed U.S. customs paperwork requirements. But as a scientist, I was more focused on getting the samples to the lab before they degraded to ensure we could continue the experiment.”
Her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, told HuffPost that such errors usually result in a small fine.
In her statement, Petrova explained how she was never asked whether she was carrying any “biological material” into the country when she first presented her passport at customs. Later, she said that immigration officers gave her a statement of the events that transpired at the airport for her to sign. She pointed out a mistake in the statement and believed that when she saw the female officer typing, the officer was making the correction.
www.huffpost.com
Kseniia Petrova, 30, flew from Paris to Boston on Feb. 16 with the frog embryo samples that her boss had asked her to bring back to the lab at Harvard Medical School.
“Because these embryos are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and non-infectious, I did not expect any issues in bringing them into the country,” she said. “I should have reviewed U.S. customs paperwork requirements. But as a scientist, I was more focused on getting the samples to the lab before they degraded to ensure we could continue the experiment.”
Her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, told HuffPost that such errors usually result in a small fine.
In her statement, Petrova explained how she was never asked whether she was carrying any “biological material” into the country when she first presented her passport at customs. Later, she said that immigration officers gave her a statement of the events that transpired at the airport for her to sign. She pointed out a mistake in the statement and believed that when she saw the female officer typing, the officer was making the correction.
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