BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 23. Martin Ryan, who was accused of espionage for France, has been pardoned.
This was reflected in the decree signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, regarding the pardon of a number of convicted individuals.
Martin Ryan, a citizen of France, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the Baku Grave Crimes Court under its judgment dated 16 March 2026.
According to the indictment, reasonable suspicions were established that Martin Ryan had received assignments to obtain information, and had been active in these areas, concerning: weapons and ammunition produced in the Republic of Azerbaijan; the equipping of the Azerbaijani Army during the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020; persons serving in the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan or discharged into the reserve who could potentially be recruited; persons who had received education in French abroad; foreign citizens and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan; opportunities for organising secret money transfers from Azerbaijan to other countries on the instructions of the French special services; relations and ties between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom, Algeria, Türkiye, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, the states of Central Asia and other countries; plans for military cooperation; and weapons and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan.
The accused persons were detained by the State Security Service on 4 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).
