Azerbaijan sentences Frenchman Martin Ryan to 10 years for spying
Mar 16th 2026
An Azerbaijani court on Monday jailed French national Martin Ryan for 10 years for collecting secret information about Baku's military ties with Turkey and Pakistan, while his co-defendant Azad Mamedli received 12 years for treason.
- Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years after being found guilty of collecting secret information on Azerbaijan's military cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan.
- Azerbaijani authorities accused Ryan of cooperating with employees of France's security services allegedly operating from the French embassy in Baku.
- Ryan pleaded guilty to some charges but said in court he did not knowingly engage in espionage and insisted he was not a spy.
- Co-defendant Azad Mamedli, an Azerbaijani national, was sentenced to 12 years for treason after authorities said Ryan recruited him to meet French intelligence agents.
- The case took place amid strained France-Azerbaijan relations linked to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and wider geopolitical tensions involving Turkey, Russia and France.