The final court hearing was held regarding the criminal case initiated by the State Security Service (SSS) against Martin Ryan, who was arrested on charges of espionage for France, and Azad Mammadli, who was accused of treason.
Modern.az reports that the verdict was announced today at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes during a hearing chaired by Judge Elmin Rustamov.
According to the verdict, Martin Ryan was sentenced to 10 years and Azad Mammadli to 12 years of imprisonment, and both individuals will serve their sentences in a strict regime correctional facility.
The court also decided that Martin Ryan will be expelled from the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan after serving his sentence.
According to the indictment, reasonable suspicions have been identified regarding Martin Ryan receiving assignments and engaging in activities aimed at obtaining information about weapons and ammunition produced in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the manning of the Azerbaijani Army during the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020, individuals serving in or discharged from the Azerbaijani Armed Forces who could be recruited for contact, individuals educated in French abroad, foreign citizens and legal entities operating in Azerbaijan, the possibilities of organizing secret money transfers to other countries via Azerbaijan at the behest of the French special services, relations and ties between Azerbaijan and Great Britain, Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, Central Asian states and other states, military cooperation plans, and weapons and ammunition imported into Azerbaijan.
It should be noted that the accused individuals were arrested by the SSS on December 4, 2023. Martin Ryan, who is the general director of "Merkorama" LLC, was charged with espionage. According to the indictment, Martin Ryan was used as an agent-spy by employees of France's DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), who recruited him for secret cooperation and were subsequently declared "persona non-grata" and expelled from Baku. In this criminal case, Martin Ryan was charged under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mammadli was charged under Article 274 (treason) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.(APA)
