An enigmatic case of Martin Ryan Contemplations with Orkhan Amashov

The arrest of Martin Ryan, a Baku-based French entrepreneur, on suspicion of espionage, coming at a time of heightened tensions between Baku and Paris, is a case full of intriguing elements. In the latest episode of “Contemplations”, Orkhan Amashov attempts to elucidate the realities of the situation and reflects on his erstwhile futile attempts to interview Richard Ryan, father of the accused, and that which he has managed to glean.

On 26 December 2023, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry declared two employees of the French embassy in Baku as personae non gratae, on the grounds of their conduct being incompatible with their diplomatic status, namely, as contradicting the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, leading to their expulsion from the country. In a move of reciprocity, Paris undertook the same regarding two Azerbaijani diplomats.

Earlier, on 4 December 2023, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service arrested Martin Ryan, a French entrepreneur based in Azerbaijan, CEO of the Baku-based company Merkorama LLC, on suspicion of espionage. The details of this particular case have recently been revealed to the public.

It was my intention to interview the father of Martin Ryan named Richard Ryan who, in a recent interview with the French AFP news agency, hinted at some intriguing aspects involving his son. And, of course, the recent l’Opinion piece making many references to Martin Ryan’s beleaguered situation has raised many pertinent questions begging clarification.

Upon obtaining Richard Ryan’s contact details through some of my colleagues, I called him via WhatsApp, enquiring as to whether he would agree to speak to me on the circumstances enveloping his son’s predicament, the realities of his time spent in Baku, his background and some aspects of Martin Ryan’s arrest to which he might have been privy. It was an opportunity to unofficially set the record straight and understand the realities of a man who has been caught up in the crossfire of history through the eyes of his father.

There were many questions I was desirous to put to him. In his interview with the AFP news agency, Richard Ryan, stated that “his son’s lawyer has told him that Martin Ryan believes he has been used as a pawn by French intelligence officers”. This is a very intriguing comment. Would you not say so? I most certainly would, and I do. Most emphatically.

I also wanted to enquire as to whether his son, Martin, was referring to the two expelled French diplomats as unduly influencing him and inducing this unfortunate gentleman to enter into illicit intelligence pursuits. The article in l’Opinion, referring to “those around him”, described Martin Ryan, as “the victim of malice", stating that “representatives of the French intelligence services would have involved him, despite himself, in the collection and transmission of information on third countries”.

It was also my intention to ask Richard Ryan whether, despite the French Foreign Ministry recently stating that they consider “this detention as arbitrary, demanding his immediate release”, and given that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Martin Ryan was involved in spying, he would agree that the position presently adamantly maintained by Paris was misleading. I realise this may sound a somewhat provocative, yet duly pertinent, question.

l’Opinion, again in reference to the entourage of the accused, provided a glimpse into how Martin Ryan’s life in Azerbaijan could have evolved from being an entrepreneur with close relations with the French Embassy into a full-fledged spy. According to this media outlet, Martin maintained amicable relations with two embassy officials, with “Frederic” and “Laurent”, apparently being their code names, and after their departure, from Baku in 2023, “Laurent”s replacement "Andre" "requested a meeting, during which he questioned Martin overzealously on political issues”.

It has been suggested that requests made to Martin had evolved gradually from “simple enquiries for information in the public domain to more pressing requests for the collection and transmission of information, particularly concerning Iran and Turkiye. It appears that, over time, Martin was forced to “actively collaborate with the French intelligence” in a way that he himself found uncomfortable, untenable and dangerous.

l’Opinion has been told that Martin Ryan, despite his refusal to act upon these requests, found himself “in a delicate situation”, fearing being used by people who would escape scott-free in the event of an incident because they, those embassy employees, were enjoying full diplomatic immunity. It is claimed that Martin’s refusal to comply with these requests created an atmosphere of mutual distrust, making Martin convinced that “the embassy agents were trying to use him as a pawn in a dangerous game”. It should also be noted that Martin is said to have been engaged to an Azerbaijani girl. Plus, he has dual citizenship, being a British national too, apparently through his father.

On this basis, I was intent on asking Richard Ryan whether he could confirm that Martin was egregiously exploited by the French intelligence services and then let down, destined to sacrifice his professional and personal life under the inescapable force of Azerbaijan’s judiciary, which has ordered his detention for a period of four months, with his long term situation remaining deeply precarious. On a different note, Martin had studied and worked in the field of military and global security until 2015 and subsequently switched to entrepreneurial activities, moving to Baku in 2019. Perhaps, he indeed arrived in Baku with full knowledge of his role and subsequently found this irrefutably burdensome when the situation went awry.

So, these are some of the questions I wanted to put to Richard Ryan. When I called, this understandably concerned father was rather taken aback, and eventually, refused to be interviewed for reasons that I cannot reveal, for I do not have his authorisation. And I have not recorded our brief conversation, for I could not have done so without his permission. One cannot be forced to be interviewed and one is under no obligation to respond to an interviewer, despite the tireless zeal of the latter.

During the conversation, I somewhat inferred that there was nothing written in l’Opinion that he knew to be false. Despite his refusal, he was very kind, suave, calm and respectful. Subsequently, we had a WhatsApp exchange, during the course of which I asked him whether it would be proper to refer to our brief unrecorded conversation, however futile it proved to be, if I were to write a piece on the subject involving his son. He was kind enough to authorise me to quote him and provided the following, which I am at liberty to divulge:

“I was not interviewed by l'Opinion. I was interviewed only very briefly by AFP. If you want to cite me, say just that I believe my son to be innocent of any wrongdoing, and that I think he is a collateral victim of the tensions between Azerbaijan and France. This is particularly unfortunate as Martin had no quarrel with Azerbaijan and was always respectful of its customs, laws and institutions. And he was critical of France's current position on the conflict with Armenia.”

A very interesting and sad case, is it not? It seems that we are dealing with the case of an unfortunate entrepreneur, who inadvertently or willingly - I can’t judge, for I don’t know – has become the victim in the hail of bullets emanating from the crossfire between Azerbaijani and France, by virtue of being exploited in way or another, by French intelligence. My feeling is that he knew prior to his arrival in Azerbaijan as to what sort of services he might have been expected to render for the French embassy. I think his defence is currently doing its level best to create an impression of him being a victim, not a willful culprit. Of course, legal proceedings are underway, and we will hear more. It is only on the basis of officially confirmed information that we can suggest anything with any degree of certainty. What I have tried to achieve in this “Contemplation” was mere conjecture.

And… It is my sincere hope that the circumstances enveloping Martin Ryan’s predicament will soon be sorted out in a humane manner acceptable to all.