Martin Ryan sentenced to 10 years in Azerbaijan
A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced French businessman Martin Ryan to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of espionage on behalf of France.
The verdict was announced at a hearing presided over by Judge Elmin Rustamov at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes, News.Az reports, citing local media.
Under the ruling, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Azad Mammadli received a 12-year sentence. Both will serve their terms in a strict-regime penal institution.
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The court also ruled that Martin Ryan will be deported from Azerbaijan upon completing his sentence.
According to the indictment, investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that Ryan had carried out assignments in several areas, including: weapons and ammunition produced in Azerbaijan; staffing of the Azerbaijani Army during the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020; identifying current or former Azerbaijani Armed Forces personnel who could be recruited as contacts; individuals studying abroad in French-language programs; foreign citizens and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan; organising covert money transfers through Azerbaijan on the instructions of France’s intelligence agency; monitoring relations between Azerbaijan and countries including Great Britain, Algeria, Türkiye, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, and Central Asian states; military cooperation plans; and obtaining information on weapons and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan.
The accused were arrested by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service on December 4, 2023. Espionage charges were brought against Ryan, the general director of Merkorama LLC, who was recruited by employees of France’s DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) for covert operations. The DGSE operatives were later expelled from Baku as “persona non grata.”
In this case, Martin Ryan was charged under Article 276 (espionage) of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, while Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli was charged under Article 274 (treason against the state).
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