French national jailed for 10 years in Azerbaijan for spying
A French national has been convicted of spying for the Azerbaijani army and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security prison, state media reports.
Martin Ryan was accused in December 2023 of spying on behalf of Paris and collecting secret information on Baku’s military cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan.
He was also accused of helping recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to cooperate with French intelligence services.
France and Ryan have repeatedly denied the spying allegations.
Ryan was tried alongside Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mamedli, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason, the AFP news agency reports.
France had previously called Ryan’s detention “arbitrary” and demanded his immediate release.
During his trial, prosecutors claimed he cooperated with employees of the French security services who operated from the French embassy in Baku.
Prosecutors said Ryan gathered information on Azerbaijan’s relationships with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, as well as companies linked to Russia and China.
Additionally, Ryan was accused of recruiting Mamedli and arranging his meeting with French intelligence agents, who allegedly instructed him to recruit Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he was studying.
In his final statement to the court, Ryan denied spying and said he had acted without knowing it.
“I consider myself guilty only because I should not have established contact with certain employees of the embassy, or I should have shared information about them with the relevant authorities,” Ryan told the court.
“I didn’t spy. I’m not a spy, and during the trial I tried to prove it.”
France argued that Ryan was caught in the crossfire of diplomatic tensions, AFP notes.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent years, centered on France’s apparent support for Azerbaijan’s rival Armenia.
In November 2024, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of alleged “crimes” against overseas territories like New Caledonia, after riots broke out in the French colony causing the deaths of fourteen people.
“France’s crimes in its so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning recent human rights violations,” Aliyev said during his speech at the COP29 climate negotiations in Baku.
“The President’s regime [Emmanuel] Macron killed 13 people and injured 169…during legitimate protests by the Kanak people in New Caledonia.”
In response, French Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher canceled her participation in the 2024 conference.
However, in October, Aliyev said “past misunderstandings between the two countries” had been resolved after his meeting with Macron in Copenhagen, AFP reports.
