Former German spy chief August Hanning arrested on espionage charges
A judge of Germany's Federal Court of Justice issued a formal arrest warrant against August Hanning, 80, the former BND president, over suspected treasonous espionage — the first time a former German spy chief has been detained.
August Hanning, the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has been placed under formal arrest on suspicion of espionage and attempted treason, in what investigators fear could become one of Germany’s biggest intelligence leaks since the end of the Cold War.
A judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe issued the arrest warrant on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors, a day after the 80-year-old was detained. Hanning led the BND from 1998 to 2005, and the Wall Street Journal reported that his detention marks the first time a former chief of the agency has been arrested.
Federal prosecutors suspect Hanning of treasonous espionage, illegally obtaining state secrets, attempted treason and espionage. In one case, they allege, he used classified intelligence to prepare an analysis for a foreign intelligence service officer. It is not clear whether the analysis ever reached its intended recipient, and prosecutors have not identified the foreign service.
According to prosecutors, Hanning agreed in 2010 to pay his former bureau chief, identified only as Manfred D, for confidential information. Manfred D served as chief of staff to successive BND presidents until his retirement in March this year. Prosecutors allege approximately 2,000 documents — many of them classified, some prepared for senior intelligence briefings — were passed to Hanning up to June 2022 in exchange for remuneration. Manfred D was also detained on Tuesday and placed under formal arrest on Wednesday, charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.
Der Spiegel reported that investigators were pursuing a possible connection to Azerbaijan, but Baku denied any link, calling the allegations groundless disinformation. Hanning’s lawyer denied he had passed information “to the detriment of Germany, let alone for payment”.
The case was uncovered during a separate kidnapping investigation involving German businesswoman Christina Block, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. The current BND president, Martin Jaeger, said the agency had carried out extensive internal investigations before prosecutors took over, insisting there would be no compromises on internal security.
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