Today, at the federal High Court in Abuja, the cross-examination of a witness from the Nigerian SEC – the first witness presented by the EFCC in the ongoing trial of Binance and their employee Tigran Gambaryan – was completed.
Tigran’s lawyer began and ended his cross-examination of the witness today.
Yesterday (1st July) Binance’s lawyers finished their own cross examination of the witness. The trial has been adjourned to July 5th.
The court was also made aware yesterday that, despite several court orders, the prison which is holding Tigran (Kuje Detention Facility) has yet to release his medical records from his only visit to hospital on June 3rd. Justice Emeka Nwite therefore ordered, yet again, that the records should be provided to Tigran’s lawyers by Friday this week.
Tigran’s health continues to deteriorate in detention and he complained of numbness in his foot as well as back pain. He has had double pneumonia and malaria whilst in prison.
Yuki Gambaryan, Tigran’s wife, released the following statement:
“Each day that Tigran remains detained becomes increasingly difficult for our family and especially for him. He is suffering immensely under the strain of this injustice. I respectfully urge the EFCC to follow the example set by their colleagues at the FIRS (tax authority) and drop the charges against Tigran. As I have stated many times before and as the evidence in court is showing, Tigran has never been a decision-maker at Binance, and there is no justification for his continued detention. It is time for the Nigerian authorities to do the right thing and release my innocent husband. This situation has gone too far.”
On June 14th, the charges brought by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria against Tigran (and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla) were dropped.
The FIRS agreed to revise their charges to serve solely on Binance through its local representative.
The court adjourned the hearing to July 12th and Tigran will no longer need to appear in court for the FIRS case.
This means that Binance is the sole defendant in this case and goes to show that both Tigran and Nadeem are not decision makers at Binance, and should never have been detained and charged in the first place.
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