Russian-born Harvard researcher charged for secretly bringing frog embryos into the US
A lawyer for a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with trying to smuggle frog embryos asked Thursday that she be brought back to Massachusetts, three months after she was taken to a Louisiana immigration detention center.
(Also read: Harvard slammed as Elon Musk reacts to post accusing university of discriminating against 'white men')
Kseniia Petrova, 30, was already facing deportation. She was charged Wednesday with smuggling goods into the United States, shortly after a federal district court judge had set a hearing on her release. A judge in Louisiana went over the charges during a hearing Thursday.
'She has requested a transfer to Massachusetts, where the complaint was filed,' her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, said in a statement. 'We expect federal authorities to transfer her to Massachusetts in the next few weeks.'
If convicted, Petrova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Petrova had been vacationing in France, where she stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples to be used for research.
As she passed through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Boston Logan International Airport, Petrova was questioned about the samples. Petrova told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak in anything. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled.
Romanovsky said Customs and Border Protection officials had no legal basis for canceling Kseniia's visa and detaining her. He called her transfer from ICE to criminal custody 'an attempt by the government to justify its outrageous and legally indefensible position that this scientist working for the U.S. on cures for cancer and aging research has somehow become a danger to the community."
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on the social platform X that Petrova was detained after 'lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.' They allege messages on her phone 'revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.'
(Also read: Meet Mona Patel, the Harvard-educated Indian-American CEO who made a splash at Met Gala 2024)
Harvard said in a statement that the university 'continues to monitor the situation.'
Petrova told the AP she left her country to avoid conflict or possible political repression. She fled after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, marking the start of a bloody three-year war.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
31 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
About 37% voters in Bihar will have to submit eligibility proof as EC begins electoral roll revision
With a 'special intensive revision' of Bihar's electoral rolls underway, the Election Commission on Saturday said that out of the total 7.89 crore electors in the state, 4.96 crore whose names were already on the rolls on January 1, 2003 will only have to fill and submit a new enumeration form. The remaining 2.93 crore – or about 37% of the electors – whose names were not on the voter list after the last revision of electoral rolls was conducted in 2003, will therefore need to submit proof of eligibility. The special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24, ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in the state at the end of the year. The poll panel had said that the review needed to be conducted due to reasons such as rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, fresh voters, non-reported deaths and the 'inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants'. This was the first time that the Election Commission has talked about undocumented migrants being part of the electoral roll in the state after the last special intensive revision held in 2003. As part of the exercise, persons whose names are not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility. Voters born before July 1, 1987 must show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004 must submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004 will need proof of date of birth for both parents. In a press note on Saturday about the start of the revision, the Election Commission noted that as per Article 326 of the Constitution, which deals with eligibility to become a voter, only Indian citizens above 18 years and ordinary residents in the constituency in question are eligible to become electors. 'Special Intensive Revision has already started successfully in Bihar for verifying the eligibility of each elector with full participation of all political parties,' the press note said. 'ECI already has 77,895 Booth Level Officers [BLOs] and is appointing nearly 20,603 more BLOs for new polling stations.' The poll panel also said that over one lakh volunteers would be assisting 'genuine electors, particularly the old, sick, Persons with Disabilities [PwD], poor and other vulnerable groups during the SIR [special intensive revision]'. All recognised political parties registered with the Election Commission have already appointed 1,54,977 booth level agents, the press note said, adding that they could still appoint more. Several political parties had criticised the revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar after it was announced by the Election Commission on June 24. On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the revision was 'even more dangerous' than the National Register of Citizens. Banerjee claimed that although the exercise began in Bihar, the real target was West Bengal, especially its migrant workers. 'The Election Commission must act as an independent institution, not a mouthpiece for the [Bharatiya Janata Party],' she said. Assembly elections in West Bengal are slated to be held next year. The chief minister alleged that through the revision of electoral rolls, the Election Commission was trying to rob young citizens of their voting rights. 'Are they working to establish the NRC [National Register of Citizens]? What is their intention?' Banerjee was referring to an updated National Register of Citizens published by the Assam government in August 2019 with the aim of separating Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants living in the state. As part of the exercise, residents had to prove that they or their ancestors had entered Assam before midnight on March 24, 1971. More than 19 lakh persons, or 5.77% of the applicants, were left out of the final list.
News18
34 minutes ago
- News18
Zohran Mamdani's Rise: The Democrat Taking on Trump's Politics? NYC Mayor World 360
Zohran Mamdani's Rise: The Democrat Taking on Trump's Politics? | NYC Mayor | World 360 | News18 Last Updated: Videos World | The rise of Zohran Mamdani — a challenge to Trump? In this episode of , we spotlight a rising political force from New York who's shaking up the Democratic playbook — Zohran Mamdani. A state assemblyman from Queens and the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair, Mamdani is part of the new progressive wave reshaping American politics from the ground could this grassroots voice be the next national figure to challenge Trumpian conservatism in 2025?From his advocacy on housing and immigration to his fiery opposition to military overreach and corporate power, Mamdani's platform is rapidly gaining traction among young, diverse voters. @AkankshaSwarups dives deep into what Mamdani represents, with exclusive insights from @NBSinDC on how this could impact the broader Democratic strategy ahead of the 2026 midterms and beyond. News18 Mobile App -
Economic Times
35 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Time to polish our public sector ratnas: Creating an Indian sovereign wealth fund to recast jewels
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Traditional Routes of Privatisation: Limited Success Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Learning from Singapore: The Temasek Model A Case for India's Temasek: Transforming NIIF Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Model: Ownership Transfer, Commercial Management A Pragmatic, Politically Smart Path (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of .) In May 2020, as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, the Indian government unveiled a bold new Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) policy. Building on that announcement, the Union Budget of February 1, 2021, laid out a detailed blueprint, categorising sectors into two:Strategic sectors, where the government would retain only a bare minimum presence, andNon-strategic sectors, where all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) would be privatised or marked a tectonic shift in India's approach to public sector enterprises- a clear intent to significantly reduce the government's footprint in business. While implementation is underway, progress has been uneven. This note proposes a bold, agile framework to fast-track the privatisation India has predominantly relied on strategic sales since the 1991 liberalisation era divesting 50% or more equity along with management control. However, another way of privatisation is public market offerings i.e. selling shares of CPSEs to retail and institutional investors. This method was famously deployed by Margaret Thatcher's UK government during its privatisation drive of British Telecom, British Gas, and British India, the strategic sale model has yielded mixed results. The successful sale of Air India came after years of delays. Meanwhile, marquee targets such as BPCL, Shipping Corporation, and IDBI Bank have faced hurdles. BPCL's disinvestment , announced in 2019, was shelved in 2022 as bidders withdrew, the government decided to hit pause to the disinvestment: a prudent decision prioritising value over sales are often complex, politically sensitive, and time-consuming, limiting their effectiveness as the default path to third approach is Singapore's model: move the ownership to an SWF, then sell faced a similar challenge as India in the 1970s, dozens of government-owned enterprises across critical sectors, struggling under state management. The solution was to create Temasek Holdings, the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Singapore which was established in 1974 as a professionally run, wholly government-owned investment company. Temasek operates with full autonomy, managed by an independent board of professionals and free from political interference. It holds and grows equity in state-owned enterprises on commercial principles. Many of these entities are now listed and globally competitive, contributing to a portfolio exceeding US$301 India is not Singapore, the core principle of insulating commercial decisions from political control is powerful and has attempted some separation by routing disinvestment decisions through DIPAM. However, this still functions within the government's bureaucratic framework. What India truly needs is a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) that can own and manage public assets is where the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) enters: India's quasi-sovereign investment vehicle, created in 2015, where the government holds a 49% stake. With assets of over $5 billion across infrastructure, growth equity, and fund-of-funds, NIIF already has the structure to become India's Temasek saw potential in NIIF, investing $400 million in 2018. It now needs a wider mandate that would allow it to become the Indian government could begin by transferring its stakes in select PSEs to NIIF, receiving fund units in exchange. The state would retain economic interest while stepping away from operational PSEs would then be run under professional governance standards, free from day-to-day political interference. Over time, NIIF could gradually dilute its stake in these enterprises in the market when conditions are favourable creating a steady revenue stream for the government, rather than volatile, one-time government could begin with minority stakes transfer, building credibility and demonstrating value creation, and eventually reduce its holding below 51% as per Atmanirbhar Bharat stealth-privatisation model i.e. first shifting ownership to NIIF, then progressively privatizing, shields the process from political turbulence while ensuring the commercial interests of the state are provides PSEs with the time, autonomy, and resources to restructure and become market-ready, aligning with the 2021 policy objective of one strategic PSE per Thomas Jefferson aptly put it, 'That government is best which governs least.' It's time we let our Ratna shine with the polish of professionalism, and free them from the weight of the state's hand.
