Azerbaijan Pardons French National After EU Lifts Sanctions on Oligarch

Azerbaijan pardoned a French national on Wednesday, September 23, who had been imprisoned since late 2023 on espionage charges, in an announcement that came just hours after the European Union lifted sanctions against oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a measure requested by France.

Officially, France refuses to draw a link between the two cases, insisting on the separate nature of the decisions made by Baku and the European Union. Paris has acknowledged, however, that broader diplomatic considerations may have influenced the timing of discussions with Azerbaijani authorities.

Alisher Usmanov, a Russian businessman who has faced European sanctions for several years in connection with the Ukraine war, had his European assets frozen as part of measures targeting oligarchs close to the Russian leadership.

The detention of the French national in Azerbaijan since late 2023 had sparked diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku, in a context of already strained relations between the two countries, notably over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and French influence in the South Caucasus.

The precise circumstances leading to the pardon granted by Azerbaijani authorities, as well as the terms of the French citizen's possible return, have not been detailed in the information available at this stage.