Azerbaijan pardons French prisoner after EU caves in on sanctions

Key Points:

• Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev pardoned French national Martin Ryan on September 23, shortly after the EU agreed to delist Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from sanctions, a move reportedly influenced by France amid a "national security" situation.
• Martin Ryan was arrested in Azerbaijan in December 2023 on spying charges, sentenced to ten years, which France has denied, while another French national, Anass Derraz, was sentenced on bribery charges linked to Russian-Azerbaijani oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov.
• The EU's decision to remove sanctions on oligarchs Usmanov, Fridman, and Akhmedov came without public justification, but it coincides with diplomatic efforts involving the release of French prisoners in Azerbaijan, suggesting a possible quid pro quo.
• Alexandre Benalla, a controversial former security aide to French President Emmanuel Macron implicated in scandals involving Russian oligarchs, is connected to the bribery accusations against Derraz, adding complexity to the political and diplomatic context.
• Azerbaijan ranks very low on press freedom indexes, and the unfolding events highlight the interplay between geopolitics, sanctions, and individual detentions affecting EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Russia relations.