Azerbaijan: 3 years in prison confirmed on appeal for Théo Clerc who sprayed the Baku metro

The very tense relations between France and Azerbaijan have served Théo Clerc badly. This recognized street art artist saw his three-year prison sentence confirmed on appeal on Monday, his lawyer announced to AFP. His package? A simple tag on a metro in Baku, the capital of this Caucasian country and… its nationality.

“The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the first instance court to imprison French citizen Théo Clerc for 3 years under the article on vandalism,” Eltchine Sadygov said. Aged 38, Théo Clerc was sentenced on September 10 to three years of detention for graffiti in the metro while his two co-defendants, a New Zealander and an Australian, were sentenced, for the same facts, to a simple fine. “The injustice is real,” lamented his brother, Charlie Clerc, a few days ago.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly protested against his detention as “arbitrary” and his conviction as “unfair”. For Margot Fontaine, the graffiti artist’s lawyer, her client is a “diplomatic hostage”, “trapped” in “bad relations between France and Azerbaijan, which are only deteriorating”.

Two other French people detained in the country

Neither President Emmanuel Macron nor a member of the French government went to the COP29 for the climate in November in Baku, which Azerbaijan accuses Paris of having called to boycott, which France rejects.

At the same time, another Frenchman, Martin Ryan, is currently detained in Azerbaijan and accused of espionage. Accusations “categorically” rejected by Paris. A third French person has been banned since July from leaving Azerbaijan, a measure described as “arbitrary” by French diplomacy, which is calling for it to be lifted.