A group of U.S. lawmakers led by Micheal McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, has accused the Nigerian government of wrongfully detaining Tigran Gambaryan. The lawmakers have asked the Biden Administration to transfer Gambaryan’s case to the Office of Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage of Affairs.
Nigeria Using Gambaryan’s Detention to ‘Extort His Employer’
A group of U.S. House of Representatives has implored President Joe Biden to help bring jailed Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan home. In a letter copied to U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage of Affairs Roger Carstens, the lawmakers argue that the Nigerian government is wrongfully detaining Gambaryan.
As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Binance executive is currently imprisoned at the notorious Kuje Prison in Abuja, Nigeria and is thought to have contracted malaria. Led by Micheal McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, the U.S. lawmakers contend that Gambaryan’s initial detention had no legal basis.
Nigerian authorities did eventually slap the Binance employee with several charges including tax evasion. However, during a bail hearing, the Nigerian government also openly admitted to using the detention of Gambaryan to leverage Binance. According to the U.S. lawmakers, this admission compels the Biden administration to treat the case as it would that of a wrongfully detained U.S. citizen.
“Following the charges, Mr. Gambaryan qualifies as a ‘U.S. citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government,’ as defined in the ‘Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-taking Accountability Act,’” the lawmakers argued in the letter.
Besides questioning the legal process surrounding Gambaryan’s detention, the U.S. lawmakers also expressed concern at the Nigerian authorities’ treatment, particularly since he contracted malaria.
Meanwhile, to ensure Gambaryan’s case is treated with the urgency it deserves, the U.S. lawmakers have requested the Biden administration to transfer it to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
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Source: Bitcoin
