In a connected sequence of diplomatic moves that have roiled European geopolitics, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has issued a presidential pardon for French national Martin Ryan, ordering his immediate release from prison just months after Ryan was convicted on espionage charges that both he and the French government have repeatedly rejected.
Ryan’s release came just hours after the European Union reached a controversial agreement to remove sanctions from two high-profile Russian billionaires, a decision that has drawn sharp condemnation from Ukraine and exposed deep divisions among EU member states. The case has also cast new light on shifting diplomatic negotiations between France, Azerbaijan, and EU powers amid ongoing fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ryan, a French citizen detained in Baku in December 2023, was sentenced to 10 years in prison this past March after prosecutors accused him of collaborating with French intelligence service operatives in the Azerbaijani capital to collect sensitive information on Azerbaijan’s diplomatic ties with Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, as well as on domestic companies linked to Russia and China. Throughout his trial, Ryan maintained his innocence, telling the court, “I did not spy. I am not a spy, and during the court case I tried to prove this.” The French government has also uniformly denied the espionage charges against him.
He is one of 20 individuals, including Azerbaijani and Turkish citizens, granted clemency under Aliyev’s pardon decree issued Wednesday. Notably, Azad Mamedli, a second defendant who stood trial alongside Ryan and received a 12-year prison sentence, was not included in the pardon. A second French national, Anass Derraz, also remains in Azerbaijani custody on separate charges of accepting a Russian bribe, with no indication of impending release.
The timing of Ryan’s pardon immediately followed the EU’s landmark decision to roll back sanctions on Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Russian-Israeli oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Both tycoons had been placed under EU sanctions in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, alongside more than 3,000 other individuals and entities accused of supporting the Kremlin’s aggression. While the two oligarchs were removed from the EU sanctions list, the latest agreement extends sanctions on all other listed individuals and entities for an unprecedented three years, replacing the previous six-month renewal requirement.
At the time of his 2022 listing, the EU cited Usmanov’s “particularly close ties” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting he had “supported materially or financially and benefited from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine.” Usmanov has consistently denied these accusations, and he remains under separate sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom and United States. Diplomatic sources confirm Slovakia first proposed removing Usmanov’s sanctions designation, and France subsequently backed the move, citing its own national security concerns to justify the position. Latvia, which initially opposed the delisting, ultimately abstained from the vote but announced it would impose its own independent sanctions on both oligarchs, warning the decision carried major risks. “It is dangerous and sends completely the wrong signal at a time when Russia’s behaviour is becoming more aggressive,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said of the move. In a surprising twist tied to the negotiations, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs confirmed French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to launch accession talks for Latvia to join France’s nuclear deterrence initiative, a concession that helped ease Latvian objections to the sanctions rollback.
Ukrainian officials have issued scathing criticism of the EU’s decision. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called out the bloc, arguing the Kremlin is already celebrating the outcome. “Moscow is celebrating, because it got what it wanted: a sense of impunity, the humiliation of the EU, and division among Europeans,” Sybiha said.
The pardon of Ryan comes as France works to reset its strained relations with Azerbaijan. For years, ties between Paris and Baku have been frosty due to France’s close diplomatic relationship with Azerbaijan’s regional rival Armenia. But in May of this year, Macron held talks with Aliyev focused on expanding bilateral cooperation, with Aliyev subsequently describing the opening of a “new era” in relations between the two countries. Political analysts have suggested Ryan’s release is likely a reciprocal gesture following France’s support for lifting Usmanov’s sanctions, though no official confirmation of any quid pro quo has emerged from either government.