Azerbaijan pardons French national jailed for spying

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev pardoned Martin Ryan, a French national serving a 10-year sentence for espionage. Ryan, arrested in 2023 and sentenced in March, was among 20 individuals pardoned, including Azerbaijani, Turkish, Russian-Israeli, and Pakistani nationals. The decision followed the EU lifting sanctions on Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov after diplomatic pressure from Baku. France welcomed the pardon as a humanitarian gesture, but it remains unclear whether Ryan has been released.