Binance Executive denied bail; family pleads his innocence, demands his release
A judge in Abuja, Nigeria, on 11th October 2024, denied a request to grant detained US citizen, Tigran Gambaryan bail, despite him meeting all the requirements for bail to be granted on medical grounds.
Tigran Gambaryan was detained, unlawfully according to his family, by the Nigerian Government on February 26, 2024.
It has now been over 230 days since the former US Federal Agent last saw his wife and family.
According to the Nigerian EFCC prosecutor, Tigran is being charged because “the 1st defendant (Binance) is operating virtually. The only thing we have to hold on to is this defendant.”
Responding to the decision on the bail application, Tigran’s wife, Yuki Gamabryan said: “We all know that Tigran was never a decision-maker at Binance, and that he is entirely innocent but I am not surprised by this decision.
“It is completely unjust to deny someone in Tigran's condition the opportunity to seek appropriate medical help, and I just pray that when he is finally released the damage he is suffering is not permanent. I am exhausted and deeply disappointed, but I will continue fighting for my husband's rightful freedom.”
In a recent podcast, ‘Designated’ with Yaya Jata Fanusie, Yuki Gambaryan expressed how she is riddled with the constant fear of losing her husband.
“Tigran is innocent, and he is suffering,” she told the podcaster. She shared how her five-year-old son does not understand why his father is not home, and recently looked at a plane flying overhead, asking if it was his dad returning home.
The podcast, released at the beginning of October, discusses how Gambaryan was unjustly detained, and provides commentary from his friends and former colleagues.
As the podcast launched, a truck with images and messages of awareness regarding Gambaryan's unlawful detainment has been making its way around Washington, DC.
Yuki Gambaryan continues to plead with the U.S. Government to help bring Gambaryan home.
“I beg the U.S. Government to recognize officially that Tigran is being unlawfully detained and to take immediate actions against the Nigerian government unless they release him,” she said.
Tigran Gambaryan’s aging mother, Knarik Gambaryan has previously expressed her heartbreak saying, “They are treating my son not like a human,” and has begged the U.S. government to help rescue him from Nigeria,
“He’s innocent. Just please bring my son home,” she said.
Gambaryan was invited to Nigeria by the Nigerian government for a meeting and was given assurances that he would be safe.
However, during the meeting his passport was taken, and he was made to pack his items from the hotel and was taken to a “guest house.”
There, he was held for almost one month before two sets of charges were brought against him and Binance, when he was then moved to the infamous Kuje prison.
During this time, Gambaryan has claimed that he has routinely been refused counsel.
His medical condition has deteriorated rapidly, to the point where he can no longer walk and needs a wheelchair, which he is most often denied.
His repeated bouts of pneumonia and malaria have taken an incalculable toll on his physical and emotional well-being.
On the podcast, his wife shares his health struggles, including a new respiratory infection, severe pain due to a herniated disc and his need for a tonsillectomy, which she believes the prison is ill-equipped to perform.
Tigran has missed countless milestones while in detention including his son's 5th birthday and first day of school, his own 40th birthday was spent in a Nigerian prison cell, and he has missed his 15th wedding anniversary.
— citinewsroom