French national jailed for 10 years in Azerbaijan for spying

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Olivia Ireland

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AFP via Getty Images

Martin Ryan (centre) during a court hearing relating to his charges of spying in Azerbaijan

A French national has been found guilty of spying on the military in Azerbaijan and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security prison, state media report.

Martin Ryan was accused in December 2023 of spying on behalf of Paris and collecting secret information about Baku’s military co-operation with Turkey and Pakistan.

He was also accused of helping recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to co-operate with French intelligence.

Both France and Ryan have repeatedly denied the spying allegations.

Ryan was put on trial alongside an Azerbaijani citizen, Azad Mamedli, who was sentenced to 12 years for treason, AFP news agency reports.

France previously described Ryan’s detention as “arbitrary” and demanded his immediate release.

During his trial, prosecutors alleged he had co-operated with employees of France’s security services allegedly operating from the French embassy in Baku.

Prosecutors said Ryan had gathered information about Azerbaijan’s relations with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, as well as companies linked to Russia and China.

Furthermore, Ryan was accused of recruiting Mamedli and arranging for him to meet French intelligence agents, who allegedly tasked him with recruiting Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he studied.

In Ryan’s final statement to the court, he denied spying and said he had acted unknowingly.

“I consider myself guilty only in that I should not have established contacts with some embassy employees, or that I should have shared information about them with the appropriate authorities,” Ryan told the court.

“I did not spy. I am not a spy, and during the court case I tried to prove this.”

France has argued that Ryan was caught in the cross-fire of diplomatic tensions, AFP notes.

Relations between the two countries soured in recent years, centred around 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 on the French colony causing the death of fourteen people.

“The crimes of France in its so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning the recent human rights violations,” said Aliyev during his speech at COP29 climate talks in Baku.

“The regime of President [Emmanuel] Macron killed 13 people and wounded 169… during legitimate protests by the Kanak people in New Caledonia.”

In response, France’s environment minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher cancelled her attendance at the 2024 conference.

However, in October Aliyev said that “past misunderstandings between the two countries” had been resolved after he met Macron in Copenhagen, AFP reports.

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