Azerbaijan pardons Frenchman after EU lifts sanctions on Russian oligarch Usmanov

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on September 23 pardoned French citizen Martin Ryan, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges. Ryan had been in custody since December 2023.

The corresponding decree was published on the website of the President of Azerbaijan.

Rayan was among 20 people pardoned by Aliyev. He was convicted by a Baku court in March 2026. Azerbaijani authorities claimed that he had been collecting information about Azerbaijanʼs relations with Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, about companies linked to Russia and China, and about regional strategic issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh.

The pardon came hours after the EU removed Russian oligarch of Uzbek origin Alisher Usmanov from its sanctions list. Diplomats said France had sought the lifting of sanctions on Usmanov as part of negotiations to free its citizens held by Azerbaijan. Paris has not officially confirmed the existence of such an agreement.

Another French citizen Annas Derraz is in an Azerbaijani prison. In November 2025, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

• On September 22, the European Union lifted sanctions against Usmanov and another Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Euronews, citing sources, wrote that France and Slovakia had demanded that Usmanov be removed from the sanctions list. Croatia and Italy supported the decision in order to reach a compromise.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.