Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned French citizen Martin Ryan, who was convicted of espionage in March this year.
The pardon came a day after the European Union removed Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from its sanctions list.
Ryan was detained in 2023 amid diplomatic tensions between Azerbaijan and France. At the time, Aliyev accused Paris of supplying weapons to Yerevan in order to unleash a new war in the Caucasus.
Ryan was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He denied all the charges, while France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs unsuccessfully demanded his release.
During the latest extension of EU sanctions against Russia, France pushed for Usmanov to be removed from the list, citing national security concerns. According to media reports, this was one of the conditions for the release of the French citizen in Azerbaijan.