Man accused of treason: Martin is covering up his own actions

A trial was held in the criminal case conducted by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan against Martin Ryan, who was arrested on charges of espionage for France, and Azad Mammadli, who was accused of treason.

Report informs that during the trial held at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes, presided by Judge Elmin Rustamov, the lawyer of the accused Martin Ryan, Nizami Aliyev, said that his client wanted to give additional testimony: "Martin Ryan wants to express his opinion on the accusations made against him by the other accused Azad Mammadli at the previous session, and intends to disclose new facts."

The court created the conditions for this.

Martin Ryan said that the accusations made against him by Azad Mammadli are not true:

"Azad's claims that I introduced some Azerbaijani citizens to representatives of French intelligence are not true. I have been searching for individuals who can assist with work to support my business activities and help me develop my business. In this regard, I met a number of people. One of them is Z.M. He also worked at the French embassy. I gave the names and surnames of those people during the investigation. Each of them was questioned."

Martin Ryan noted that the case involved U.A.: "I met that person during a meeting with people studying in France. I introduced him to Frederick Devos. I admit that I introduced U.A. to Frederick Devos. Later, I learned that Frederick Devos is a man of French intelligence, has connections with them, and is a dangerous man. After learning this, I told U.A. that Frederick Devos serves French intelligence. Another French intelligence officer, Laurent Grand, who succeeded Frederick Devos, offered him cooperation. But he refused."

Another defendant, Azad Mammadli, noted that Martin Ryan is lying and hiding the main goals of this criminal case:

"Martin is covering up his actions. He mainly conducted intelligence on oil and gas contracts and cooperation. He mainly wanted to learn about the activities of British companies and get acquainted with the leading and managerial people working in those companies and learn secret information. He introduced some Azerbaijani citizens and one foreign citizen to representatives of French intelligence. That foreign citizen was a woman and was a leading employee of an oil and gas company. Martin Ryan, under the guise of teaching French and chess lessons, collected information from a number of our citizens and gave it to the French special services. A person named R.M. also spoke French. He was also a leading employee of a very influential local company. He also introduced him to representatives of French intelligence."

Later, the court announced the testimony of Martin Ryan to the investigation.

The Frenchman told the investigation that he had studied with several Azerbaijanis as a student and had formed relationships:

"I met a person named E.S. on the Internet and developed a relationship. I first came to Azerbaijan in 2015 at his invitation. After staying for 9-10 days, I returned to France. Then, in 2016, I came to Azerbaijan twice at the invitation of my university mate, R.M. Later, I returned and left. I came to Azerbaijan in 2020 and created a small business here. At that time, my acquaintance named Serge invited me to a party at his French house. During the party, I met Frederic Devos. He said that he worked at the French embassy. Devos met with me 3 months later. Devos introduced himself as the person responsible for the security of the French. He told me that the Russians and Iranians were a threat to the French. Devos asked me questions about whether I had any connections with Iranian companies. He told me to collect information about Iranian and Russian businessmen and pass it on to him. Although he worked at the French embassy under the name of second secretary, I found out that he was an employee of French intelligence."

Martin Ryan stated in the investigation that he met with Frederick Devos several times during the war in 2020:

"During the meetings, he asked whether Azerbaijan's weapons would suffice for this war, and about Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations. I shared the information I knew with him. There were contacts after the war. During subsequent meetings, Devos gave me instructions. He asked for information about Iranian businessmen, then a list of people in Azerbaijan who knew French and studied in France. Devos even suggested that I go to Iran. He said, go and trade in saffron. I introduced Z.M., Azad Mammadli, U.A. and other Azerbaijanis to Devos. After Devos learned that Azad Mammadli studied in Russia, he became very interested in him. After a while, Devos was replaced by a person named Laurent Lodi. Laurent also gave instructions like Devos. Laurent and Jerome Gassarino, who came later, were also employees of French intelligence. They conducted intelligence work in Azerbaijan under different names at the French embassy. I should have informed the Azerbaijani state authorities about them in a timely manner. I was just afraid of the French government at that time."

The judge said that Martin Ryan's statement to the investigation is more than 40 pages long and that there are other criminal cases pending in court. Therefore, the rest of Martin Ryan's statement will be announced at the next hearing.

The trial will continue on July 21.

Martin Ryan and others were arrested on December 4, 2023. Martin Ryan, the CEO of Merkorama LLC, was charged with espionage.

According to the charges, Martin Ryan was used as an agent-spy by employees of the French General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), who recruited him for secret cooperation and were later declared persona non grata and expelled from Baku.

Along with Martin Ryan, Azad Mammadli, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is charged with “high treason” in the same criminal case.

On December 20, 2023, after the exposure of a large spy network and professional failures, DGSE head Bernard Emie was dismissed from his post.