Binance executive’s health worsens, appears in court in wheelchair

The executive director of the cryptocurrency platform, Binance,  Tigran Gambaryan, arrived at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a wheelchair for his trial for alleged money laundering on Tuesday.

Gambaryan, who was first detained on February 26, has spent 141 days in a correctional centre in Abuja.

.When the prison officials wheeled in Gambaryan, he stood up from the wheelchair and walked slowly into the dock.

The defence counsel, Mark Mordi, drew the court’s attention to his client’s deteriorating condition.

He urged the court to issue a bench warrant against the prison medical officer and immediately ensure that his client was treated in a hospital.

 Mordi said: “My client came in here in a wheelchair. He has been complaining of back pain.

“We need to be careful of the life in our hands.”

READ ALSO: Court to rule on Binance tax evasion case October 11

Similarly, Gambaryan’s wife in a statement from the United States and made available to Ripples Nigeria, expressed concern about his deteriorating health.

She said: “I am heartbroken to see my once fit and healthy husband reduced to such a condition. This ordeal has taken a severe toll on him, leaving him in so much pain that he can hardly walk. I do not understand why this is being allowed to continue. Tigran is innocent.

“All he did was dutifully travel to Nigeria for a meeting. Now our lives have been turned upside down and his health is at serious risk.

“I am pleading with the Nigerian authorities to urgently release my husband on humanitarian grounds. This situation is destroying him. I need him safely home with us right now.”

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