Azerbaijan Jails Frenchman for 10 Years for Espionage

French national Martin Ryan, accused of espionage, attends a court hearing in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 January, 2025. Reuters - Aziz Karimov
French national Martin Ryan, accused of espionage, attends a court hearing in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 January, 2025. Reuters - Aziz Karimov
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Azerbaijan Jails Frenchman for 10 Years for Espionage

French national Martin Ryan, accused of espionage, attends a court hearing in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 January, 2025. Reuters - Aziz Karimov
French national Martin Ryan, accused of espionage, attends a court hearing in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 January, 2025. Reuters - Aziz Karimov

A court in Azerbaijan sentenced a French citizen to ten years in prison on Monday after finding him ‌guilty ‌of spying ‌on ⁠behalf of Paris, ⁠Russian state news agency RIA reported.

Baku accuses the man, Martin ⁠Ryan, who was ‌arrested ‌in December 2023, ‌of collecting secret ‌information about its military cooperation with Türkiye and ‌Pakistan.

It also said he was helping ⁠to ⁠recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to cooperate with French intelligence.

Ryan pleaded partially guilty to the charge.