French National Arrested in Azerbaijan on Spy Allegations Identified

A French-Armenian journalist has disclosed the name of one French citizen who is being accused of alleged espionage by Azerbaijani authorities. 

Leo Nicolian, a French military correspondent of Armenian and Lebanese descent, disclosed the name of one of these detained French citizens on X.

"Martin Ryan was arrested in Baku on December 4. Martin Ryan, CEO of the [Baku-based company] Merkorama LLC, is accused of espionage. He was influenced by two expelled agents of the DGSE [(Directorate-General for External Security) of France], who engaged him in secret collaboration. Ongoing confidential negotiations are in progress,” Nicolian wrote on X today.

In late December, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared two employees of the French embassy in Baku as persona non grata, mandating their departure from the country within 48 hours, as reported by Azerbaijan MFA's press service. The Azerbaijani MFA highlighted that on December 26, they summoned the French ambassador to Azerbaijan, Anne Bouillon, to whom they submitted "a strong complaint regarding the actions of two members of the French embassy, which were incompatible with their diplomatic status and contradicted the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.”

Official statements regarding the mentioned arrests are yet to be released by Azerbaijani authorities.