MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Ksenia Petrova, a Russian scientist from Harvard University, who is awaiting trial in the United States on charges of smuggling frog embryos, deserves leniency, said Alexander Ionov, Chairman of the Permanent Commission of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) on International Human Rights Cooperation.
According to him, Petrova was taking frog embryos to Harvard University, flying from France to Boston, where she was detained. Ionov said that Petrova will soon have her first court hearing.
"She could be forgiven since it's her first violation. Or impose the minimum possible punishment, because she had come to teach Americans, among others. It was material for important research. And it would be strange if Petrova was convicted now. We are afraid of various collisions," said Ionov.
According to the US Department of Justice, Petrova was detained last year at Boston airport. Border guards found a box of clawed frog embryos in her luggage. According to the charging documents, during the interrogation Petrova said she was not sure about the need to declare biological material upon entry into the country. Last June Petrova was released from custody and is awaiting trial.
The US Department of Justice further states that Petrova previously worked at the Institute of Gene Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and also held the position of bioinformatician at the N. P. Bochkov Research Center for Medical Genetic.