// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Azerbaijan pardons Frenchman after EU lifts sanctions on Russian billionaire
Martin Ryan was convicted of spying earlier this year - charges both he and France denied
French national Martin Ryan has been pardoned and his release from prison ordered by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after he was jailed on charges of spying.
His release came hours after the EU agreed to lift sanctions on two Russian billionaires, prompting anger from Ukraine. Diplomats had indicated that France had pushed for an end to restrictions on one of the businessmen, Alisher Usmanov.
Ryan, who denied espionage, is one of 20 people pardoned by Aliyev.
However, a second Frenchman, Anass Derraz, remains in jail in Azerbaijan accused of accepting a Russian bribe.
It was not clear what had led to pressure for sanctions on Russian-Uzbek billionaire Usmanov to be lifted - the EU also agreed to take Russian-Israeli oligarch Mikhail Fridman off its sanctions list.
Slovakia is understood to have pressed for Usmanov's name to removed initially, and France then backed the move, highlighting national security concerns.
Both men have been under EU embargo since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and until now EU sanctions on more than 3,000 "individuals and entities" have had to be renewed every six months. The latest agreement extends the sanctions on the others for three years.
Usmanov was cited by the EU in its 2022 listing, external as having "particularly close ties" to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and of having "supported materially or financially and benefited from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine".
The metals and mining billionaire denied this characterisation of him. He has also been sanctioned by the UK and US governments.