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A French national has been found guilty of spying on the military in Azerbaijan and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security prison, state media report.<\/p>\n
Martin Ryan was accused in December 2023 of spying on behalf of Paris and collecting secret information about Baku’s military co-operation with Turkey and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
He was also accused of helping recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to co-operate with French intelligence.<\/p>\n
Both France and Ryan have repeatedly denied the spying allegations.<\/p>\n
Ryan was put on trial alongside an Azerbaijani citizen, Azad Mamedli, who was sentenced to 12 years for treason, AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n
France previously described Ryan’s detention as “arbitrary” and demanded his immediate release.<\/p>\n
During his trial, prosecutors alleged he had co-operated with employees of France’s security services allegedly operating from the French embassy in Baku.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Ryan had gathered information about Azerbaijan’s relations with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, as well as companies linked to Russia and China.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Ryan was accused of recruiting Mamedli and arranging for him to meet French intelligence agents, who allegedly tasked him with recruiting Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he studied.<\/p>\n
In Ryan’s final statement to the court, he denied spying and said he had acted unknowingly.<\/p>\n
“I consider myself guilty only in that I should not have established contacts with some embassy employees, or that I should have shared information about them with the appropriate authorities,” Ryan told the court.<\/p>\n
“I did not spy. I am not a spy, and during the court case I tried to prove this.”<\/p>\n
France has argued that Ryan was caught in the cross-fire of diplomatic tensions, AFP notes.<\/p>\n
Relations between the two countries soured in recent years, centred around France’s apparent support for Azerbaijan’s rival Armenia.<\/p>\n
In November 2024, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of alleged “crimes” against overseas territories like New Caledonia, after riots broke out on the French colony<\/a> causing the death of fourteen people.<\/p>\n “The crimes of France in its so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning the recent human rights violations,” said Aliyev during his speech at COP29 climate talks in Baku.<\/p>\n “The regime of President [Emmanuel] Macron killed 13 people and wounded 169… during legitimate protests by the Kanak people in New Caledonia.”<\/p>\n In response, France’s environment minister Agn\u00e8s Pannier-Runacher cancelled her attendance at the 2024 conference.<\/p>\n However, in October Aliyev said that “past misunderstandings between the two countries” had been resolved after he met Macron in Copenhagen, AFP reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n