BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 23. France highly appreciates the decision by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to grant a pardon to French national Martin Ryan, who had been detained in Azerbaijan since December 2023, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said.
"France welcomes with relief the decision by the President of Azerbaijan to grant a pardon to our national Martin Ryan, who had been detained in Azerbaijan since December 2023. France highly appreciates this humanitarian gesture," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that the decision followed dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities, adding that France intends to continue the dialogue.
According to the ministry, the dialogue marks "a step toward the normalization of our relations." France also thanked the teams in Paris and Baku who worked to achieve the outcome.
Ryan had been detained in Azerbaijan since December 2023. Martin Ryan, who was the general director of Merkorama LLC, was charged with espionage. According to the charge, he was used as an agent-spy by employees of France’s DGSE (General Directorate for External Security) who had recruited him for secret cooperation and who were later declared persona non grata and expelled from Baku. In the same criminal case, Martin Ryan was charged under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli was charged under Article 274 (high treason).
