Binance CEO Richard Teng is demanding that Nigerian authorities release Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the exchange who has been imprisoned for seven months.
Gambaryan, head of the crypto exchange’s Financial Crime Compliance team, was first detained by Nigerian police in February and charged with aiding Binance in tax evasion and money laundering.
Gambaryan was arrested with another executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who managed to escape the country to avoid incarceration.
Video footage has now emerged showing Gambaryan, in pain and unable to walk, limping through a Nigerian court while guards seemingly refuse to assist him or allow him a wheelchair.
In the video, Gambaryan alleges that the officer he was with said the government instructed him not to take care of him.
“This is f*cked up! He was told not to help me, he said there was instruction from the government. This is f*cked up. Why can’t I use a wheelchair? This is a show. I’m a f*cking innocent person and you’re doing this to me. I can’t f*cking walk. My spine is [broken]… I’m not okay!
Responding to the video, Teng says,
“This inhumane treatment of Tigran must end. He must be allowed to go home for medical treatment and to be with his family.”
Mark Mordi, a lawyer for Gambaryan, told the courts that his client had filed an application for bail “because his health has continued to deteriorate while in prison custody,” Reuters reports.
Gambaryan has a herniated disc and has been suffering from bouts of malaria and pneumonia. However, lawyers for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission say that Gambaryan is not in ill health and was already suffering from a herniated disc before prison.
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