Last updated:
Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of detained Nigeria Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, once again called for his release in an October 1 episode of Illicit Edge’s podcast “Designated.”
Yuki Gambaryan Presses For Her Imprisoned Husband’s Release
Speaking with “Designated” host and former CIA analyst Yaya Fanusie, Ms. Gambaryan reiterated her calls to bring Tigran home following his sudden imprisonment earlier this year.
“Tigran is innocent and he didn’t do anything wrong. He is suffering and needs to come,” Ms. Gambaryan said. “This could happen to anyone – not just Tigran… I don’t want anyone to experience what I’m going through right now.”
While Ms. Gambaryan noted that she is not doing well “physically and mentally” due to her “crippling” worries about her husband’s condition, she says she has to stay strong for the couple’s two young children.
“The other day I took them to a nearby park and my son saw an airplane in the sky. He said ‘mommy, look, there’s an airplane! Is daddy on the airplane?” Ms. Gambaryan continued. “It was heartbreaking.”
Detained Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan’s Health Struggles
Gambaryan was detained in the African nation earlier this year on money laundering and tax evasion charges after he traveled to the country for a set of policy talks alongside his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, despite being guaranteed a safe passage.
Questions have swirled over the legitimacy of the charges, with critics arguing he is being used as a pawn for Nigeria’s issues with Binance’s crypto operations within its borders.
While Anjarwalla was later able to escape, Gambaryan has since been imprisoned in Kuje prison outside the country’s capital of Nigeria, where he has suffered from malaria, double pneumonia, and complications from a herniated disc.
Footage of Gambaryan seemingly breaking down at a court date earlier last month sees the crypto compliance chief in pain and struggling to walk.
“I’m not okay,” Gambaryan cried in the video, clearly distressed. “Why couldn’t I use a goddamn wheelchair? This is a show. I’m innocent—why are you doing this to me?”
“One thing I would like to see happen very soon is the State Department declaring Tigran as formally wrongfully detained,” Ms. Gambaryan continued, urging the U.S. government to focus its efforts on his case.
“What Tigran is going through every day is a complete disregard for justice and humanity and it should not be tolerated,” Ms. Gambaryan said. “…It is getting harder and harder to stay hopeful.”