New details of ‘spy scandal’ involving French citizens in Baku

French media continue their investigations into the arrest of French citizen Martin Ryan in Baku and the expulsion of two diplomats and employees of the French embassy from the country. For France, such a failure in the work of the country’s intelligence services working under diplomatic cover was very unpleasant.

It is not surprising that the French media are discovering more and more details about this high-profile case.

Report informs that the multimedia platform Kernews.com even believes that this story is suitable for a spy film script.

“This French business leader has been detained in Azerbaijan since December 4, because he is accused of espionage by the local authorities. The weekly Paris Match quotes Martin Ryan's father who sees a link between this issue and diplomatic tensions in France and Azerbaijan. 'Once, he told me: they wanted to use me as a pawn,' explained Richard Ryan, specifying that his son had 'alluded to the two expelled diplomats, believing that they were getting away with it.'

The journalist of Armenian origin Léo Nicolian, a specialist in war zones, investigated this case, in particular by approaching the lawyer and the family of Martin Ryan.

Report presents this interview without cuts or changes.

Kernews: There has been a lot of talk in recent days about this French citizen, Martin Ryan, detained for espionage in Azerbaijan. You are in contact with his family and you have been able to collect a lot of information. First, can you tell us about the career path of this thirty-year-old?

Léo Nicolian: Martin is a Frenchman who wants to succeed in life. Seeing all the problems there are in France, between taxes and various standards, he wants to go elsewhere. Sometimes the grass can be greener elsewhere... He hesitates between several countries, notably Canada, the US, or even Russia, where everything is going well economically, but also Armenia, Dubai or Qatar. He is interested in this emerging country, Azerbaijan. Baku is the pearl of the Caucasus, capital of Azerbaijan, with Turkic-speaking people. It is a secular country that has developed and enriched enormously. So, Martin moved there five years ago. He says that there is something to be done, because it is an extremely modern and rich country. In addition, it is a city that ensures total security. There are no rapes, no drugs and no burglaries... So, after a market study, he decides to settle in Azerbaijan because there is a wealthy class, but also the emergence of a class average which becomes important. Restaurants and cafes are growing like mushrooms, more than in Paris. They have everything in terms of food, but he has the idea of bringing them high-end products made in France, particularly for making sauces. He starts his business, Mercorama. Life is beautiful. He earns his living and gets engaged to a beautiful woman. However, as there is a significant Armenian community in France, this influences French foreign policy. The president of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has positions for Armenia and Azerbaijan is puffing out his chest because of this situation. Martin is a business manager, he doesn't care about that, he works in the restaurant business.

Kernews: So, what happened last year?

Léo Nicolian: The French secret services came to visit Martin Ryan last year. They are two diplomats from the French embassy. They have a diplomatic passport, because you should know that all embassies have multiple employees and some, under diplomatic cover, are spies. The US has the CIA, Israel has the Mossad, Russia has the FSB, France has the DGSE… These two people from the DGSE go to see him, introduce themselves and ask him to inform them by working for them. Martin refuses: “I’m not interested, I already have a job.” These people answer him: “You have no choice. Accidents happen, think of your father or mother. There are people who commit suicide…” They add: “We can ruin your company, because we can block your goods coming from France at customs and we can make you a tramp in Baku.” Martin refuses the first time. But the pressure is permanent, like the wolf biting the neck of its prey. And he ends up giving in, despite himself.

Kernews: Why could this restaurant business manager be useful to the French secret services?

Léo Nicolian: Martin Ryan distributes food products, bases for making sauces, for all restaurants in Baku. All embassies are in the capitals. An Iranian restaurant is frequented by diplomats and the Iranian community. An American restaurant is frequented by employees of the American embassy. The restaurant owners, who are Martin's customers, become his informants. For example, so-and-so came, this is what was said at the table according to the waiter, there may have been microphones hidden under the tables... It's in the legal file, it's Defense Secret. After a few months, someone probably spilled the beans. Martin Ryan is under surveillance by the Azerbaijani intelligence services, he is arrested, his cell phone is confiscated and searched, and the agents come across visibly overwhelming things. He has been in preventive detention since December 4. He is accused of passive espionage. These are not military secrets, but these are the diplomatic and business world. Information is always crucial. This matter has remained secret until now. No one was informed and I will not reveal my sources. I first contacted Martin's mother, Rose, who begged me not to reveal the affair due to ongoing secret negotiations. These secret negotiations end, not with the arrest of the two French secret agents, because we cannot arrest them, since they are diplomats with immunity, but with their expulsion from Azerbaijan. France responds with the expulsion of two diplomats from Azerbaijan. It's tit for tat. In the midst of all this, Martin Ryan, a simple businessman, has no diplomatic immunity. He was the fuse that blew, a victim of French foreign policy.

Kernews: It is therefore a business leader who was threatened in his activity for doing this and who is now paying the price...

Léo Nicolian: He is the fuse. He is in prison. He is detained for espionage and faces a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison. I just hope that he will be released in preventive detention, we can confiscate his passport and put an electronic bracelet on him. But this is a matter for the judiciary of Azerbaijan and it does not concern us, since it is a sovereign country. What shocks me in this story is this desire not to talk about it. Today, the media in Azerbaijan discovered this affair, the AFP confirms this affair after investigation, I give them the contact details of Martin's parents, it becomes a state affair. What scandalizes me is that our government is doing nothing. I hope that our new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, will move on this. Before her departure, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, simply asked Azerbaijan for the release of this French citizen, even though it was still her, via her ministry and her embassy, who put this man in this trap! The French State is responsible for this situation. We intimidated a French citizen and put pressure on his family. He was about to get married and this is where he finds himself. I am in contact with his friends and his lawyer. This is a matter that is becoming very important. All the media are starting to talk about it and I hope that we will be interested in it more and more. Azerbaijan's ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva reacted by making a statement to AFP. This is a really delicate matter. He was forced to do something, he had a gun to his head. He did not do this out of conviction.

Kernews: This is a shocking affair. If you are a French business manager in a foreign country and conduct your business without bothering anyone, what do you do if the French secret services come to threaten you?

Léo Nicolian: Personally, I would have gone to the Azerbaijan secret services and told them: “There are people who are bothering me and who are asking me this…” I have already been threatened. I have ongoing trials, notably with Anne Hidalgo. Now, after 52 police custody cases, several murder attempts and losing one arm, everything that doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Human beings also have their sensitivity. I have nothing to lose, I am at the end of my life, so I have nothing to lose. No one is eternal. Ryan is young, he has his whole life ahead of him, a family to start, and when he is told that all his goods will be blocked in France and that he will become a tramp, the world collapses beneath his feet. Was he right to give in? The question no longer even arises, with the situation in which he finds himself. Believe me, the prison of the Azerbaijan secret service is not the VIP district of La Sante Prison. We will see the outcome of this affair. We need general mobilization. The only possibility would be that the president of Azerbaijan decides to pardon him.