Baku:Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pardoned Martin Ryan, a French national who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage earlier this year.

According to Anadolu Agency, Ryan was convicted in March by the Baku Court on Grave Crimes and was among several individuals pardoned by a presidential decree. The decree, available on the presidency's website, indicated that the pardon considered various factors, including the personalities, health, and family circumstances of the convicts.

Ryan was arrested in December 2023 and subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage in March, as reported by the Baku-based APA news agency.

The French Foreign Ministry lauded the pardon as a "humanitarian gesture that France commends," highlighting it as a product of a "patient and rigorous dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities." France expressed gratitude to the teams in Paris and Baku who worked diligently to secure this outcome, noting it as a step towards normalizing relations between the two countries.