Azerbaijan pardons French prisoner after EU caves in on sanctions

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev granted clemency to a French national on September 23, according to reports from France 24. This came shortly after the European Union agreed to delist two Russian oligarchs from sanctions, a move prompted by pressure from France. The EU had initially planned to remove sanctions against oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman on September 22, but only after allowing the remaining 3,000 Russia sanctions to remain in place.

The French government has not made public the reason for this decision, instead citing a national security situation during discussions with EU ambassadors. The Financial Times first disclosed that this stance was linked to Azerbaijan's imprisonment of two French nationals. The two individuals in question have been identified as Martin Ryan and Anass Derraz, based on information provided three weeks prior when French lawmaker Marc Dena questioned France's efforts to secure their release in a parliamentary inquiry. The pardon of Martin Ryan by Aliyev lends credence to these suspicions.