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- In a new video, Binance official Tigran Gambaryan is seen pleading with Nigerian government officials to treat him with human decency and respect.
- He could barely walk and was wincing in pain, with his legal team revealing that he was suffering from a herniated disc and that he was in extreme pain.
Six months after he was arrested in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, Binance official Tigran Gambaryan is suffering from rapidly deteriorating health and can barely walk, with a new video showing him wincing in pain as he struggled to walk to court this week.
Gambaryan is a former officer with the US IRS who now serves as Binance’s head of financial compliance. He was arrested in February alongside the exchange’s head of African operations, Nadeem Anjarwalla (who escaped detention and remains at large), while on a trip to Abuja to discuss how the exchange can better cooperate with the Nigerian government. Nigeria has used him as a proxy to crack down on Binance for alleged money laundering and currency manipulation.
Since his arrest, the American’s health has deteriorated, with his legal team and his wife claiming on several occasions that Nigeria had denied him access to medical care.
In a new video posted on social media this week, Gambaryan could barely walk to court on crutches and was wincing in pain, questioning why he couldn’t be afforded a wheelchair.
https://twitter.com/Crypto_omo/status/1830670756470030389
In the video, Gambaruyan attempts to hold onto a Nigerian police officer for support, but the officer shrugs him off and orders him to walk on his own, insisting that “he’s okay,” which Gambaryan says reflects the kind of treatment he has received during his six-month detention.
This is fucked up! He was told not to help me, he said there was instruction from the government. This is fucked up. Why can’t I use a wheelchair? This is a show. I’m a fucking innocent person and you’re doing this to me. I can’t fucking walk. My spine is broken… I’m not okay!
Binance Official’s Health Problems Are Exxagerated: Nigeria’s EFCC
In court, Gambaryan’s legal team applied for bail yet again after their last attempt was rejected in May. His lawyer, Mark Modi, argued that the bail is necessary since his client’s health has worsened and needs urgent medical care.
However, the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission dismissed the health concerns as it has done since his arrest. The EFCC, which has been pushing the prosecution, says that his herniated disc has affected him for a decade and that it had nothing to do with his arrest. The agency also dismissed the other health concerns such as pneumonia and malaria, saying they were “not as serious” as his team made them out.
Gambaryan’s wife, Binance CEO Richard Teng, and thousands of crypto fans in Nigeria and beyond feel differently and are calling on Nigeria to respect his basic human rights.
CEO Teng stated in response to the video:
This inhumane treatment of Tigran must end. He must be allowed to go home for medical treatment and to be with his family.
In a blog post last week, Teng doubled down on claims that the Nigerian government is using Gambaryan as a pawn to punish the exchange, which he says is unnecessary as all the charges could be settled amicably. He also noted that Binance has always been ready to work with law enforcement, bringing down criminals and recovering billions of dollars.
Binance is calling for US intervention and global advocacy. We strongly urge the U.S. government and citizens and organizations globally to exert political pressure to secure Tigran’s release on humanitarian grounds and to protest against Nigeria’s unjust detention practices.
