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).
