On Charges of “Treason”
Former Intelligence Chief Arrested in Germany
According to consistent media reports, former BND chief August Hanning was arrested on suspicion of espionage. The 80-year-old served as head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005. Investigators apparently stumbled upon the high-ranking official by chance.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen According to reports, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office had the former BND president arrested this morning. The arrest took place at Hanning’s residence in the Steinfurt district of North Rhine-Westphalia by special police forces, as reported by *Der Spiegel*, among others. His former office manager was also reportedly arrested.
Suspicions of Espionage
The serious charges include espionage constituting treason and the disclosure of state secrets. Furthermore, the former high-ranking official is accused of attempted treason and acting as a secret service agent.
According to the investigation, Hanning is alleged to have illegally obtained and passed on classified BND information for years after the end of his career as a civil servant.
According to the newspaper “Bild,” Hanning is alleged to have purchased the sensitive data from a former member of the BND’s executive staff. He intended to “resell it as part of his consulting work.” The Federal Prosecutor General is conducting the investigation against both suspects.
According to security sources, Hanning is alleged to have used the intelligence in at least one instance to prepare an analysis for an “employee of a foreign intelligence service.”
It was emphasized that this did not involve Russia. For which foreign power this man was working remained unclear at first. Whether the analysis was actually transmitted to the intelligence officer is the subject of ongoing investigations.
The whole affair came to light because Hanning’s name surfaced in the Block case. What is arguably Germany’s most well-known custody dispute culminated in the violent abduction of the couple’s two youngest children from Denmark to Germany on New Year’s Eve 2023–2024.
Chance Discovery During Raid
Hanning came under suspicion of having been involved in a possible earlier attempt to abduct the two Block children, which the former BND chief denies. As *Der Spiegel* learned, investigators stumbled upon the sensitive BND data last year during a raid in Hanning’s circle and took further action.
The former intelligence chief is alleged to have illegally received information via the back channel until at least 2022. His BND contact, who was also arrested, is said to have passed on some 2,000 documents to him, some of which were top secret. The arrest of a former BND president is unprecedented in Germany’s criminal history. If convicted of espionage against the state, he faces up to ten years in prison.
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