Aliyev pardons Frenchman convicted of espionage after sanctions lifted from Usmanov

In the list of pardoned individuals, besides the Frenchman, there are 15 Azerbaijani citizens, two Turkish citizens, a Pakistani citizen, and Kirill Mikhailov, who holds dual Russian-Israeli citizenship.

As reported by the press service of the Azerbaijani president, Aliyev considered pardon petitions submitted by the convicts themselves, their families, and the human rights commissioner. When making the decision, the identities of the prisoners, their health status, family situation, the nature of the crimes and the degree of public danger, the terms of punishment, and their conduct during their sentence were taken into account.

Martin Ryan was detained by officers of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan in Baku in December 2023. In March 2026, the Baku Court for Serious Crimes found him guilty under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan — espionage — and sentenced him to ten years in prison.

According to the investigation, Ryan collected information about the armaments and personnel of the Azerbaijani army, as well as other data that might be of interest to French intelligence. He was also accused of receiving assignments to gather information about Azerbaijan's cooperation and ties with Great Britain, Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, and Central Asian countries.

In addition, the investigation claimed that he collected information about military cooperation plans, armaments, and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan. According to this version, Ryan was involved in secret cooperation, and employees of France's General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) used him as a spy agent.

After this, the Azerbaijani authorities declared DGSE employees personae non gratae and expelled them from the country.

The Frenchman's release occurred immediately after Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman were removed from the lists during the latest extension of European sanctions against Russia. Moreover, France primarily insisted on this, which did not publicly or privately explain its motives, stating only that the issue was related to a "specific national security problem." Politico reported that the decision might have been part of a possible agreement, under which Azerbaijan would release detained French citizens. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denied this, stating that Baku had previously advocated for Usmanov's exclusion from the sanctions list.

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