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Baku court of Appeal to examine espionage and treason case involving Martin Ryan and Azad Mammadli

08 June 2026 11:33 (UTC +04:00)

An appeal has been filed against the verdict issued in the criminal case launched by the State Security Service (SSS) against Martin Ryan, accused of spying for France, and Azad Mammadli, charged with high treason, APA reports.

The preliminary hearing on the appeal has been scheduled for June 11 at the Baku Court of Appeal under the chairmanship of Judge Murad Mammadov.

It should be noted that under the verdict issued by the Baku Court for Grave Crimes on March 16 this year, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years and Azad Mammadli to 12 years of imprisonment.

According to the indictment, substantial suspicions have been identified regarding Martin Ryan’s receipt of instructions and activities aimed at obtaining information on weapons and ammunition produced in the Republic of Azerbaijan; the staffing of the Azerbaijani Army during the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020; individuals serving in or discharged into the reserve of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces who could potentially be recruited as contacts; individuals educated in French abroad; foreign nationals and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan; the organization of covert money transfers through Azerbaijan to other countries on the instructions of the French intelligence service; relations and ties between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom, Algeria, Türkiye, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, Central Asian states, and other countries; military cooperation plans; and information on weapons and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan.

Note that the accused persons were arrested on December 4, 2023. The State Security Service brought charges against Martin Ryan, the general director of “Merkorama” LLC, under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the indictment, Martin Ryan was used as an agent-spy by officers of France’s DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), who had recruited him into covert cooperation and were later expelled from Baku after being declared persona non grata. In the same criminal case, alongside Martin Ryan, Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli has been charged under Article 274 (treason against the state) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Martin Ryan Azad Mammadli appeal Baku Court of Appeal State Security Service SSS espionage France DGSE high treason Azerbaijan criminal case Baku Court for Grave Crimes Murad Mammadov Merkorama LLC national security espionage charges court hearing French intelligence persona non grata