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SHOCKING DISCLOSURES at Martin Ryan and Azad Mammadli trial, accused of espionage for France

27 February 2025 16:24 (UTC +04:00)

The next hearing has been held in the criminal case of Martin Ryan and Azad Mammadli, who are accused of espionage for France, as part of the criminal case initiated by the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, APA reports.

During the trial held at the Baku Grave Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Elmin Rustamov, the accused Martin Ryan gave his testimony.

Employees of intelligence services at the French embassy in Azerbaijan

Martin Ryan stated that he had contact with three people at the French embassy in Azerbaijan: "These people were employees of the intelligence services. They offered me to do a job for a certain amount of money. Since the job was dangerous, I refused. They were always researching countries that competed with France. I trusted them and cooperated. Over time, I couldn't cut off the connection. I regret it. The French government is guilty in this case.

I came here to start a business. I came to Azerbaijan as a tourist in 2015, and a year later, I met a person named Ramin and we started a business. Our business developed. My connections with the embassy expanded. We involved French companies in the work. I moved to Azerbaijan and learned the language."

Afterwards, the accused stated in his testimony: "They kept us in a cooperative relationship through manipulation. They wanted us to collect information about Iran and Russia, besides Azerbaijan and report it to them."

The 4th agent in French Embassy

The accused Martin Ryan noted that there was the 4th agent at the French embassy: "That agent had a connection with Azad. I also met him once."

The failure of the intelligence activities that France wanted to carry out in Azerbaijan through its secret services

Martin Ryan said in continuation of his testimony: "On December 20, 2023, the President of France issued an order dismissing Bernard Emié, the head of the General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), from his position. Thus, the French government kind of confessed the failure of the intelligence activities it sought to carry out in Azerbaijan through its intelligence services. At that time, two intelligence officers named Jerom and Loran were deported from Azerbaijan. They knew that Azad and I had been arrested. Not only did they not make any effort to rescue us, but they even refused to come to the State Security Service."

In his statement, Martin Ryan mentioned that although he had contacted the French press regarding his arrest, not even a single word was published: "Then, an Armenian blogger made my arrest public. This was reacted to, and the French government issued a statement. The statement emphasized that my arrest was illegal."

What does Martin Ryan blame France for?

At the end of his testimony, Martin Ryan said that the French government was to blame in this case: "The French government should have stood by its citizen, it should not have left me in a bad situation. I have been arrested for 15 months. I have lost almost everything. I believe that the French government should be honest with me, help me, and apologize to me in front of the Azerbaijani state for the behavior of those agents."

The trial will continue on March 12.

Note that the accused persons were arrested on December 4, 2023. The State Security Service has charged Martin Ryan, the director general of Merkorama LLC, with espionage under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to the charges, Martin Ryan was used as an agent-spy by France's DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security) officers who recruited him for covert collaboration and were later declared "persona non grata" and expelled from Baku. In the same case, along with Martin Ryan, the citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan Azad Mammadli has been charged under Article 274 (treason). As is known, following the exposure of a wide spy network and operational failures, Bernard Émié, the head of France's DGSE, was dismissed from his position on December 20, 2023.