BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 24. The preliminary
investigation of the criminal case initiated by the State Security
Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan against Martin Ryan, who was
arrested on charges of spying for France, has been completed,
Trend reports.
The case was sent to the Baku Court on Grave Crimes for
consideration. Elmin Rustamov was appointed as the judge who will
preside over the trial.
Martin Ryan and others were arrested on December 4, 2023. Martin
Ryan, CEO of Mercorama LLC, was charged with espionage.
According to the indictment, Martin Ryan was used as a spy agent
by the French Directorate-General for External Security, that
involved him in secret collaboration and he was subsequently
expelled from Baku as a “persona non grata”.
Along with Martin Ryan, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
Azad Mammadli, will be tried in this criminal case on charges of
“high treason”.
On December 20, 2023, DGSE Director Bernard Émié was dismissed
from his post after the exposure of a large spy network and
failures of the service.
