Deux parlementaires américains demandent la libération pour raisons humanitaires du dirigeant de Binance incarcéré au Nigeria

Two American lawmakers have called on the US Embassy in Nigeria to seek the release, for humanitarian reasons, of Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who is imprisoned due to poor health conditions.

Mr. Gambaryan, a US citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, has been detained since February on money laundering charges. Last week, the tax evasion charges against him and another executive who left Nigeria in March were dropped.

French Hill, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, and Chrissy Houlahan, a Democratic member, visited Mr. Gambaryan at Kuje prison in Abuja on Thursday during a trip to the West African country.

« We have asked our embassy to advocate for a humanitarian release of Tigran due to the horrible prison conditions, his innocence, and his health, » said Mr. Hill in a video posted on the social media site X, alongside Ms. Houlahan.

Ms. Houlahan mentioned that during the prison visit, they observed that Mr. Gambaryan was living in harsh conditions and « he was visibly very stressed and his health condition wasn’t very good. »

Binance had previously stated that Mr. Gambaryan was suffering from malaria and pneumonia.

Gambaryan, who denies the charges against him, appeared in court on Friday for the money laundering trial, which was adjourned to July 1st.

Nigeria held Binance responsible for its monetary difficulties after cryptocurrency sites became the platform of choice to exchange the Nigerian naira, as the country faced a chronic shortage of dollars and its currency reached historically low levels.