Former German Intelligence Chief Held Over Alleged Espionage and Treason
publishers 79articles 104first 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 after his arrest on suspicion of espionage and treason-related offenses.
Federal prosecutors allege that Hanning, 80, obtained classified documents from a former BND employee and used secret intelligence to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. The other former official, identified by Deutsche Welle as Hanning’s former chief of staff, Manfred D., was also arrested.
Hanning led Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, from 1998 to 2005 and later worked as a private consultant. Prosecutors suspect his contacts with foreign intelligence services dated from 2010.
The former employee allegedly supplied Hanning with about 2,000 documents over roughly 12 years. Reporting by German broadcasters and Süddeutsche Zeitung said the files included highly sensitive assessments concerning Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s military and the war in Ukraine, as well as intelligence received from Germany’s foreign partners.
Authorities have not publicly identified the foreign service for which Hanning allegedly prepared the analysis. Azerbaijan has denied buying German state secrets from him, according to the Financial Times.
The allegations remain unproven. German authorities are conducting damage assessments to determine whether information shared by partner services 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 67 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 79
- Source articles
- 104
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 67 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 agencies are conducting damage assessments. - "German authorities and allied intelligence agencies are conducting damage assessments to determine whether information shared by partner services was compromised.": The sources say the BND/German officials are conducting a damage assessment and talking to partners, but they do not say allied intelligence agencies are conducting damage assessments.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Former German Intelligence Chief Held Over Alleged Espionage and Treason
A German court ordered former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning to remain in pretrial detention after his arrest on suspicion of espionage and treason-related offenses.
Federal prosecutors allege that Hanning, 80, obtained classified documents from a former BND employee and used secret intelligence to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. The other former official, identified by Deutsche Welle as Hanning’s former chief of staff, Manfred D., was also arrested.
Hanning led Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, from 1998 to 2005 and later worked as a private consultant. Prosecutors suspect his contacts with foreign intelligence services dated from 2010.
The former employee allegedly supplied Hanning with about 2,000 documents over roughly 12 years. Reporting by German broadcasters and Süddeutsche Zeitung said the files included highly sensitive assessments concerning Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s military and the war in Ukraine, as well as intelligence received from Germany’s foreign partners.
Authorities have not publicly identified the foreign service for which Hanning allegedly prepared the analysis. Azerbaijan has denied buying German state secrets from him, according to the Financial Times.
The allegations remain unproven. German authorities and allied intelligence agencies are conducting damage assessments to determine whether information shared by partner services 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 →