Azerbaijani authorities arrested a French citizen, Martin Ryan, on espionage charges on December 4, 2023, Ambassador of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva told Agence France-Presse (AFP), AzVision.az reports.
The ambassador said that judicial authorities ordered his detention for a period of four months, adding that the French Embassy in Baku was immediately notified of the arrest.
The identity of one of the arrested for espionage activities carried out by the French Foreign Intelligence Service in Azerbaijan has become known.
The CEO of the Baku-based company Merkorama LLC Martin Ryan was manipulated by the French agent of the 2nd DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), who engaged him in secret cooperation and was subsequently expelled from Baku.
According to information circulated in the Western press, investigations and arrests carried out by the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan in early December 2023 resulted in the exposure in Azerbaijan of an extensive network of agents of French intelligence services involved in various operations in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, several countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Dozens of French spies were identified in a short period, some of whom had been operating in Azerbaijan at one point or another, and some of whom continued to work undercover in various countries and reputable international organizations.
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