The Martin Ryan case: which countries became France’s secret targets?

As is known, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly rejected a statement issued by France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs on July 30, in which the French side questioned the legitimacy of the trial and verdict handed down to French citizen Martin Ryan. This was previously stated in a comment by Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada.

Azerbaijan’s foreign policy agency described Paris’s attempts to provide a political assessment of the judicial proceedings, interfere in the activities of Azerbaijani courts, and portray Martin Ryan’s detention as “arbitrary” and the trial as “unfair” as unacceptable.

The Foreign Ministry’s statement stressed that the criminal case against Martin Ryan had been investigated in full compliance with the law. The court reached its decision based on the evidence presented. The defendant’s procedural rights were ensured at all stages of the proceedings. In addition, representatives of the French Embassy’s consular service were present at every court hearing.

Given the hasty and notably emotional reaction from the French foreign policy establishment, the editorial team of Caliber.Az, whose representatives closely followed the course of the trial alongside officials from the French Embassy’s consular service, considers it necessary to draw attention to a number of important circumstances.

As previously reported in the media, the examination of the case materials revealed the methods employed by a spy network operated by representatives of the French diplomatic corps in Azerbaijan. In particular, the investigation established that members of the network had attempted to covertly infiltrate the diplomatic missions of other countries, using translators, personal relationships, and other recruitment channels to gain access to confidential information.

During the trial, extensive technical evidence was presented, testimonies were heard from individuals directly involved in the activities, and confessions were made by Martin Ryan and other defendants in the case.

In light of these developments, the Caliber.Az editorial team considers it necessary to identify and disclose the diplomatic missions of which countries were targeted by the activities of the French espionage network.

If France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is indeed so interested in the circumstances of this criminal case, our editorial team, given the conclusion of the trial, intends to apply to the security body that conducted the investigation, as well as to the court, with a request to disclose the names of the relevant embassies.

The disclosure of this information would undoubtedly generate significant interest both among the French public and among the countries that Paris publicly describes as its allies and partners, while conducting covert intelligence activities against them.

The competent authorities in France are well aware that the question of which countries became targets of operations by the French intelligence network represents only one episode in this and related criminal cases, details of which may also eventually become public.

Notably, just days after the arrests began, amid a series of revelations and the expulsion from Azerbaijan of several individuals declared persona non grata as part of the criminal investigation underway in Baku, French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed Bernard Émié from his post as head of France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) on December 20, 2023. 

The Caliber.Az editorial team also calls on France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to demonstrate the same level of transparency in addressing the details of the criminal case involving Anass Derraz and Alexandre Benalla. The case concerns an investigation into allegations that French officials accepted bribes in exchange for helping foreign billionaires shield their assets from European sanctions.