1. United States
2. Wisc.
3. Letter

As you are aware, the federal government has charged Harvard research scientist Ksenia Petrova with felony smuggling after she inadvertently failed to report some frog embryos which she brought back to the US with her as part of her research. This is an absurd charge, for the obvious reason that there is no call for black market frog embryos. Furthermore: ICE originally detained Petrova for simply failing to report the embryos…but the relevant regulation prohibited only ”biological materials that can pose a threat to agriculture, public health, and natural resources”…a description which does not apply to the frog embryos. Typically, if someone entering the US raises plausible suspicion of having violated any criminal law, charges are made first, since criminal charges are more severe, and have more negative effects, than mere failure to declare items (which most often is a mere accident, and most often is punished, if at all, with a small fine). But Petrova was not only detained, then later charged with felony smuggling, she has been held since February, her visa was revoked, and she has been threatened with deportation to her native Russia…where she would be in serious peril because she has been outspoken against the Russian government’s criminal war with Ukraine. Ksenia Petrova must be freed. The ludicrous felony smuggling charges must be dropped, and the specious original charge about the frog embryos dropped, since the relevant regulations do not apply to them.