A court in Baku has sentenced French businessman Martin Ryan to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage; another defendant in the case, Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli – to 12 years in prison on charges of high treason, the Azerbaijani service of Radio Liberty reports.
Martin Ryan – CEO of Mercorama, he was detained in December 2023. According to the investigation, he acted on behalf of persons who worked in the country as diplomats, but in fact, allegedly, were employees of the French secret services. Ryan met with them and introduced them to Mammadli.
The Oxu newspaper, citing the indictment, says that the businessman was accused of collecting information about weapons produced in Azerbaijan and the army during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition, the investigation claims that he was interested in military personnel and persons in reserve, graduates of foreign universities with French language skills, as well as plans for Azerbaijan’s military cooperation with the UK, Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, China and Central Asian countries.
Ryan and Mammadli pleaded not guilty. Martin Ryan told the court that he travelled to Azerbaijan for business purposes in 2015 and had established contacts with some French embassy staff during his stay, but never took money from them. “I was not spying and I tried to prove it in court. Perhaps I should not have contacted some people,” he said in his last statement.
According to the court ruling, Martin Ryan will be deported to his home country after serving his sentence.
Relations between France and Azerbaijan deteriorated after Paris supported Yerevan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia began buying armoured vehicles from France, and in February 2024, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that Paris was ready to provide Armenia with air defence missiles.