Der Spiegel exclusively reported on Thursday (October 8) that August Hanning, the 80-year-old former director of the German Intelligence Service (BND), was suspected of sharing confidential German information with a male staff member of the Chinese intelligence service. German prosecutors declined to comment on the accusations in response to Der Spiegel's request for an interview.
Although there was no official statement, many German-language media outlets reprinted the news in "Der Spiegel" and reported that Hanning may have provided intelligence to China, bringing more attention to this already explosive news.
On October 6, the day Hanning and his close confidant Manfred D., who continued to hold important positions in the Federal Intelligence Service for many years after Hanning left his post, were arrested. When the German media reported the incident, they emphasized on the one hand that the two were suspected of treason and espionage crimes. On the other hand, they emphasized that according to the information currently available to the media, the country involved in the intelligence betrayal had nothing to do with Russia. Several media outlets mentioned Azerbaijan in their reports and emphasized that the news could not be confirmed at this time.
Hanning served as Director of the Federal Intelligence Service from 1998 to 2005, and Manfred D. was Hanning's chief of staff. After Hanning retired, Manfred continued to serve many subsequent directors until his official retirement at the beginning of this year. He can be said to be one of the most core members of the informed circle within the Intelligence Agency.
Prosecutors alleged that as of June 2022, Manfred had delivered as many as 2,000 internal documents marked as highly confidential to Hanning, who had long since retired, and that Hanning then sold the information to other countries.
Hanning's defense attorney, Leon Kruse, said on Wednesday that Hanning firmly denies the leak charges. Kruse confirmed that Hanning was in possession of documents classified as confidential, but stressed that he "did not transfer this information to a third party at the expense of German interests, nor did he sell the information."
What was widely exposed by the media after Hanning's arrest was also his retirement income. After retiring as intelligence director, Hanning mainly engaged in consulting work and served part-time on the supervisory boards of several companies, all of which were high-level positions. The media had previously exposed that Hanning was in financial trouble because he served as a member of the supervisory board of a bank in the Baltic states. The bank was mismanaged and sabotaged, and eventually declared bankruptcy. Hanning, who was a member of the Supervisory Board at the time, and former NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen, who was also a member of the board of directors, were both implicated in the bank's bankruptcy proceedings and were required to bear responsibility for the losses of the bank and its customers. This incident forced Hanning, who had a generous income and financial worries, into a personal financial crisis, and part of his pension was forced to be turned over to pay off debts.
The arrests of Hanning and Manfred D. occurred this week as the German Bundestag held its annual public hearing on the security protection agency since 2016. The hearing was attended by the heads of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD). Media practitioners and ordinary citizens can observe the hearing if they register in advance. At the hearing, the above-mentioned three most important intelligence and security protection organizations in Germany gave an assessment of the current situation of Germany's national security, and also gave specific examples of the aspects in which Germany is particularly threatened by other countries.
The tone of this year's hearings from the heads of three intelligence and security organizations centered around the assessment that Germany remains a target of Russian intelligence efforts, particularly because of its significant role in militarily and financially aiding Ukraine. In addition, China also received special mention. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned that some people use university exchanges and scientific research cooperation to obtain German proprietary technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology and biotechnology. In addition, relevant departments have also noticed the continuous proliferation of Chinese technology products. From smart home appliances to connected cars, exfiltration of user-provided data can be misused. In extreme cases, the system may even be shut down remotely.
