Germany: Ex-spy chief sent to pretrial detention on treason charges

Former German foreign intelligence agency boss August Hanning appeared before a federal judge in the western city of Karlsruhe on Wednesday following his arrest on espionage and treason charges Tuesday.

He has been ordered to remain in detention ahead of his trial.

Manfred D., Hanning's former chief of staff at the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), was also detained.

What are the charges against Hanning?

He is accused of having stolen secret documents and turned these over to Hanning, who, as a private-sector security advisor, in turn reportedly sold the secret documents to an as yet unnamed foreign spy agency or agencies.

It is estimated that the two stole and potentially passed on more 2,000 secret documents between 2010 and 2023. Federal investigators say it is unclear how much information was stolen and to whom it was sold.

Hanning ran Germany's BND intelligence service from 1998 until 2005 before becoming state secretary at the Federal Interior Ministry and then entering private business as a security advisor.

The issue has raised serious questions about the trustworthiness of Germany's intelligence agencies and shocked politicians into action as they claim not enough is being done to make sure that high-ranking security officials are not abusing their experience when transitioning to jobs in the private sector.