Azerbaijan pardons French national after EU lifts sanctions on Alisher Usmanov

Azerbaijan's president has pardoned French national Martin Ryan, who had been serving a ten-year prison sentence in Baku after an espionage conviction in March. The pardon was issued on Wednesday, one day after the European Union lifted sanctions on Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Diplomats have linked the sequence of events to a wider dispute involving Azerbaijan, France and the EU.

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According to the supplied report, the pardon was signed by President Ilham Aliyev. Ryan had been imprisoned in the Azerbaijani capital and was convicted earlier this year. The EU decision on Usmanov came after what diplomats described as pressure from Baku, although the Azerbaijani side rejected the suggestion that the businessman was being used as leverage.

The case has drawn attention because diplomats said Paris had privately indicated that Baku was using the Usmanov issue to press France over two French citizens held in Azerbaijan. That allegation was not accepted by Baku. The pardon may ease one part of the dispute, but it does not resolve the broader tensions described by diplomats in the row.

The timing matters because sanctions decisions and detainee cases can become linked in sensitive diplomatic exchanges. Usmanov is a Russian billionaire whose name has featured in European sanctions policy, while the Ryan case has become part of a separate argument over French nationals held in Azerbaijan. Such cases can affect relations not only between two capitals, but also between a member state and the wider European Union.

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The supplied material does not give details on the two other French citizens mentioned by diplomats, nor does it say whether any further steps are planned by Paris or Brussels. It is also unclear whether the pardon will lead to any broader diplomatic thaw. What happens next will depend on whether the release is followed by additional moves on detainees or sanctions-related issues.

For now, the key development is that Ryan has been pardoned after months in custody, and the move came immediately after the EU changed its sanctions position on Usmanov. The sequence is likely to remain under close watch because of the diplomatic signals it sends. Further official comment from Azerbaijan, France or the EU would be needed to clarify whether the two issues were directly connected.

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