Former German intelligence chief detained on treason and espionage allegations
publishers 78articles 99first reported 6 Oct, 08:10 UTCdeveloping since 6 Oct · 10 editions
A German court ordered former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning to remain in pretrial detention Wednesday after his arrest on suspicion of treason and espionage involving classified documents.
Federal prosecutors allege that Hanning, 80, obtained secret material from a former employee of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, and used some of it to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. Hanning led the BND from 1998 to 2005 and later worked as a private security consultant.
The former employee, identified in reports as Manfred D., was also arrested. He allegedly supplied Hanning with about 2,000 classified documents over roughly 12 years while continuing to work under successive BND chiefs. German media reported that the files included government intelligence briefings, information from partner agencies and sensitive reporting on Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s military and the war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors have not publicly identified the foreign intelligence service involved. Reports have linked Azerbaijan to the case, but the Azerbaijani government has denied buying German state secrets from Hanning.
Hanning’s lawyer acknowledged that his client possessed classified documents without authorization but rejected allegations that he passed their contents to another country or received payment for doing so. German authorities are conducting assessments to determine whether information supplied by foreign partners was compromised.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 42 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 78
- Source articles
- 99
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 42 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Remove the unsupported claim that allied intelligence services are conducting assessments. - "German authorities and allied intelligence services are conducting assessments to determine whether information supplied by foreign partners was compromised.": The sources say German authorities/BND are conducting a damage assessment and talking to partners; they do not say allied intelligence services are conducting assessments.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Former German intelligence chief detained on treason and espionage allegations
A German court ordered former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning to remain in pretrial detention Wednesday after his arrest on suspicion of treason and espionage involving classified documents.
Federal prosecutors allege that Hanning, 80, obtained secret material from a former employee of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, and used some of it to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. Hanning led the BND from 1998 to 2005 and later worked as a private security consultant.
The former employee, identified in reports as Manfred D., was also arrested. He allegedly supplied Hanning with about 2,000 classified documents over roughly 12 years while continuing to work under successive BND chiefs. German media reported that the files included government intelligence briefings, information from partner agencies and sensitive reporting on Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s military and the war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors have not publicly identified the foreign intelligence service involved. Reports have linked Azerbaijan to the case, but the Azerbaijani government has denied buying German state secrets from Hanning.
Hanning’s lawyer acknowledged that his client possessed classified documents without authorization but rejected allegations that he passed their contents to another country or received payment for doing so. German authorities and allied intelligence services are conducting assessments to determine whether information supplied by foreign partners was compromised.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →