German ex-spy chief arrested for treason: What we know

A former German foreign intelligence chief, August Hanning, has been formally arrested by prosecutors on allegations of treason and espionage involving the purchase and use of secret documents, German media reported on Wednesday. The 80-year-old, who served as head of the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service from 1998 to 2005, was detained on Tuesday over suspected espionage and attempted treason.

The case has shocked the German intelligence community and lawmakers, potentially emerging as one of the biggest leaks of classified documents since the end of the Cold War.

Federal prosecutors have not identified the foreign intelligence service allegedly receiving the documents, and it remains unclear if Hanning's analysis reached its intended recipient. Der Spiegel news magazine reported that investigators were pursuing a possible connection to Azerbaijan, with Hanning reportedly in contact with an agent from the country.

Azerbaijan denied any connection to the allegations on Wednesday, stating that the malicious intent behind the disinformation operation was to damage Azerbaijan-Germany relations.

Hanning's lawyer told German newspaper Die Welt that the allegation of Hanning passing on information to the detriment of Germany, let alone for payment, is incorrect. The judge who issued the arrest warrant at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe emphasized that authorities could keep Hanning in custody. Azerbaijan's Media and Broadcasting Council, in a statement, called the allegations groundless disinformation, asserting that the case had no connection to Azerbaijani intelligence.

Manfred D., an individual identified in the investigation, was also detained on Tuesday and placed under formal arrest on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that Hanning agreed to pay for confidential information from D in 2010, potentially giving him access to some of Germany's most current intelligence at the time. The investigation centers on the suspicion that Hanning received approximately 2,000 documents from D through June 2022, some of which were classified. The level of secrecy of the potentially leaked documents is still unclear.