The former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence services, August Hanning, appeared Wednesday before a federal judge in Karlsruhe, in the west of the country, after his arrest Tuesday on espionage and treason charges.
He was ordered to remain in custody before his trial, according to federal prosecutors.
Manfred D., Hanning’s former chief of staff at the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), was also arrested.
What are the charges against Hanning?
Manfred D. is accused of stealing secret documents and handing them over to Hanning, who, as a private sector security advisor, allegedly in turn sold the secret documents to one or more as-yet-unnamed foreign spy agencies.
Investigators estimate the two men stole and potentially transmitted more than 2,000 secret documents between 2010 and 2023. Federal investigators say it’s unclear how much information was stolen and to whom it was sold.
Hanning headed the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence service, from 1998 to 2005, before becoming state secretary in the Federal Interior Ministry and then moving into the private sector as a security adviser.
The issue has raised serious questions about the reliability of Germany’s intelligence agencies and shocked politicians who say not enough is being done to ensure top officials do not abuse their experience as they transition to private sector jobs.
Who was Hanning selling data to?
Although it is not yet known who Hanning’s potential clients were, the German weekly The Spiegel The magazine named Azerbaijan as one of these countries on Wednesday. The Azerbaijan Media and Broadcast Council vehemently denied the accusation, calling it “baseless” and adding: “The malicious intention of the forces behind this disinformation operation is to damage relations between Azerbaijan and Germany.”
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
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