Arrested Binance Executive Begs for Help: “Why Are You Doing This to Me?”

Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who has been detained in Nigeria since February, limped into an Abuja courtroom yesterday, dragging his left leg after prison authorities rejected his request for a wheelchair.

In a video uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) yesterday afternoon, Gambaryan pleads with a prison guard who is escorting him into the courtroom to help him walk.

In the video, Gambaryan can be seen holding on to the guard for support and saying, “I’m not okay and it’s getting worse.” After the guard walked away, Gambaryan was left with just one crutch and turned to the audience and said:

“He was told not to help me, he said it was an instruction. There could not be a bigger absurdity. Why can’t I use a wheelchair? All they do is show. I am an innocent person. Why are you doing this to me?”

Gambaryan, who was seen to be in pain, reached for the guard’s arm once more, but received the following response: “Please don’t hold me. You can walk by yourself.”

Gambaryan’s lawyers have filed a new application for bail on medical grounds, saying Gambaryan should be released because of illnesses caused by prison conditions, including malaria, pneumonia, tonsillitis and complications from a herniated disc in his back.

The prosecutor of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), however, opposed the bail application, arguing that Gambaryan was not in poor health and that he had refused medical treatment.

Gambaryan’s previous bail application was rejected in May.

Kuje prison authorities had previously refused to hand over Gambaryan’s medical records, but some of them were handed over to the court during yesterday’s bail hearing, according to a family spokesperson. The spokesperson said the medical records showed that emergency surgery was needed, but “key elements of the record, including an MRI scan, were missing.”

In addition to being denied adequate medical care, Gambaryan’s access to his lawyers and US embassy staff has also been restricted, the spokesman said.

Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki, said in a statement: “This situation is a violation of justice. The US Government must do more to help Tigran. I call on them to use every tool available to rescue an innocent American who is at risk of permanent harm… This entire situation is inhumane and we are truly fed up. There must be consequences for this disregard for the law and human rights.”