US legal officials push for hostage label for Binance executive held in Nigeria

A coalition of U.S. attorneys general, spearheaded by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, has sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They are urging the administration to classify Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, currently detained in Nigeria, as a hostage.

In the letter, the attorneys general raised concerns about Gambaryan’s life, claiming that the Nigerian government is unlawfully detaining him as a leverage against Binance.

They wrote:

“Tigran Gambaryan is being held unlawfully by the Nigerian government under potentially life-threatening circumstances. This is not a partisan issue, but rather one of pure humanitarian concern and fundamental patriotic duty,”

The attorneys general also described Gambaryan as a hero and a law enforcement leader with a long and distinguished career working to enforce the law and uphold American values during his time as a special agent for the Inland Revenue Service (IRS). They added that Gambaryan’s role at Binance has brought the exchange into compliance with regulations and improved its operations in line with US legal standards.

The open letter was co-signed by the attorneys general of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, the US Virgin Islands, Vermont, and Virginia.

Unjust detention poses a risk to Gambaryan’s life

The attorney generals also described Gambaryan’s continued detention as unjust, noting that its obvious purpose is for the Nigerian authorities to use it as leverage for financial gain. They called it an extortion the US must not tolerate and fully kick against as it could set a dangerous precedent.

It appears that Gambaryan’s failure to appear in court on October 18 for his hearing was the catalyst for the attorneys general sending the letter. Although he has been in detention since February 2024, his latest absence triggered concerns from various sources after an official of the Nigerian Correctional  Services told the court it was due to health conditions.

This supports early claims by Gambaryan and his representatives that his health had deteriorated significantly since his detention. The open letter also referred to this, noting that Nigerian authorities’ treatment of Gambaryan is similar to how North Korea treated American student Otto Wambier, leading to Wambier’s death.

How the White House will react to the letter remains to be seen. The administration has been relatively silent on the Gambaryan case publicly, although many believe there might be background efforts to get him released. Designating him as a hostage could put diplomatic pressure on the Nigerian authorities and aid the call for his release.

Binance’s Gambaryan gets new trial date

Meanwhile, the attorneys general’s letter only joins the growing number of calls from various sources for Gambaryan’s release. Some US legislators have already called for his release after visiting the Binance executive in prison, while a coalition of former federal agents also wrote to Blinken on the same issue.

However, there is no clear sign that the Nigerian authorities are changing their position. Authorities have insisted that his detention is lawful and that the court will determine his innocence. Still, legal efforts to secure his temporary release pending the conclusion of the trial have failed, with the court denying two bail applications.

Gambaryan is now set to appear in court on October 25, but the likelihood of his appearance remains unclear, given that no information is available about his health conditions or whether he will be in better condition by then. So far, there are no signs that the Nigerian authorities have yielded to orders for an independent medical checkup for the Binance executive.