Martin Ryan sentenced to 10 years in Azerbaijan for espionage

A final court hearing has been held in the criminal case initiated by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan against Martin Ryan, arrested on charges of espionage for France, and Azad Mammadli, accused of treason against the state, Olaylar informs.

The verdict was announced at a hearing presided over by Judge Elmin Rustamov at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

Under the sentence, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years and Azad Mammadli to 12 years of imprisonment, and both individuals will serve their sentences in a strict-regime penal institution.

The court also ruled that Martin Ryan will be deported beyond the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan after completing his sentence.

According to the indictment, reasonable suspicions were established that Martin Ryan had received assignments and carried out activities in the following areas: weapons and ammunition produced in the Republic of Azerbaijan; the staffing of the Azerbaijani Army during the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020; individuals serving in or discharged to the reserve of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces who could potentially be recruited as contacts; individuals who studied abroad in French-language programs; foreign citizens and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan; possibilities for organizing covert money transfers through Azerbaijan to other countries on the instructions of the French special service agency; relations and ties between Azerbaijan and Great Britain, Algeria, Türkiye, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, Central Asian states and other countries; military cooperation plans; and obtaining information about weapons and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan.

The accused individuals were arrested by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan on December 4, 2023. Espionage charges were brought against Martin Ryan, the general director of Merkorama LLC. According to the charges, Martin Ryan was used as an agent-spy by employees of Francechr("39")s DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) who had recruited him for covert cooperation and were later expelled from Baku after being declared "persona non grata."

In this criminal case, Martin Ryan was charged under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli was charged under Article 274 (treason against the state) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.