Ex-German Spy Chief Arrested Over Alleged Foreign Intelligence Plot: ‘Treasonous Espionage’

(Franka Bruns/AP photo)

A former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of attempted treason after prosecutors accused him of obtaining classified material and using it to prepare an analysis for a foreign spy agency.

August Hanning, who led Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, for seven years until 2005, was detained alongside a former BND office manager, federal prosecutors said.

“Hanning is strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason and espionage,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Authorities allege Hanning struck an arrangement in 2010 with former BND employee Manfred D., who is accused of supplying him with confidential intelligence in exchange for payment. Prosecutors said the alleged accomplice provided around 2,000 documents over a period of years, including classified BND material intended strictly for internal use and senior-level intelligence briefings prepared for the German chancellery.

Hanning is accused of using some of the material to prepare an analysis for an officer working for a foreign intelligence service. Prosecutors also allege he spent years passing political information to a representative of that agency.

Officials have not identified the foreign service involved, and it remains unclear whether the analysis was ultimately delivered, but German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the investigation does not concern Russia.

BND President Martin Jaeger said the agency began a wide-ranging internal inquiry as soon as suspicions emerged, adding that “there can be no compromises on internal security.”

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