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Azerbaijan pardons French spy after EU lifts Russian sanctions
Confirmed
In Short: However, a second Frenchman, Anass Derraz, remains in jail in Azerbaijan accused of accepting a Russian bribe. Derraz, a French water company executive, was not included in the list of people pardoned.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned Frenchman Martin Ryan, who was jailed for spying, on Wednesday, September 23, following the European Union's decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Ryan, a businessman, was arrested in December 2023 while relations between Azerbaijan and France had deteriorated over Paris's support for Armenia, Baku's longtime rival. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March after being found guilty of spying against Azerbaijan.
The EU agreed to lift sanctions on Usmanov and Russian-Israeli oligarch Mikhail Fridman, prompting anger from Ukraine. Both men had been under EU embargo since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Azerbaijan's president pardoned Ryan following the EU's removal of sanctions on Usmanov, who was cited by the EU in its 2022 listing for having 'particularly close ties' to Russian President Vladimir Putin and for 'supporting materially or financially and benefiting from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine'.
A senior diplomat in Brussels told AFP that France had pushed for the EU to lift sanctions on Usmanov as part of a potential prisoner deal with Azerbaijan. The diplomat said Paris had privately indicated that Baku was using Usmanov's sanctions case to pressure France over two French citizens held in Azerbaijan.
The EU agreed to extend sanctions on Russia in a compromise deal that will see Usmanov and Fridman dropped from the blacklist, diplomats said. The latest agreement extends the sanctions on the others for three years.
The pardon and sanctions removal have exposed divisions among EU governments, with some arguing that lifting sanctions for political reasons sets a dangerous precedent. France's push to have Usmanov removed riled other EU member states.
Usmanov denied the EU's characterization of him, and the metals and mining billionaire's delisting marks the first time the EU removed sanctions on the wealthiest members of Russia's billionaire elite who had not publicly condemned the war in Ukraine.
What's confirmed
- Martin Ryan was convicted of spying earlier this year - charges both he and France denied French national Martin Ryan has been pardoned and his release from prison ordered by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after he was jailed on charges of spying.
- However, a second Frenchman, Anass Derraz, remains in jail in Azerbaijan accused of accepting a Russian bribe.
- Three European diplomats told Reuters that Paris had privately indicated that Baku was using Usmanov's sanctions case to pressure France over two French citizens held in Azerbaijan, and Baku rejected that assertion.
What's still developing
- French water company executive Anass Derraz, jailed in Azerbaijan last year for accepting a bribe, was not included in the list of people pardoned.