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Baku court sentences Martin Ryan, Azad Mammadli in espionage and treason case

16 March 2026 12:50 (UTC +04:00)

The final court hearing has been held in the criminal case launched by the State Security Service (SSS) against Martin Ryan, who was arrested on charges of spying for France, and Azad Mammadli, who was accused of treason, APA reports.

The verdict was announced at a hearing held at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes under the chairmanship of Judge Elmin Rustamov.

According to the verdict, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Azad Mammadli was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Both individuals will serve their sentences in a strict-regime penitentiary facility.

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

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.