Former BND chief Hanning Faces espionage allegations

Oct 6

Tagesschau reports prosecutors' espionage allegations against August Hanning, arising from documents found a year earlier during the Block kidnapping investigation. His former chief of staff Manfred D. allegedly supplied confidential BND information for money over twelve years. Ines Peterson says Hanning obtained about 2,000 documents, some classified, and allegedly used material to prepare an analysis for a foreign-intelligence employee. Prosecutors also allege exchanges with another intelligence service; their identities are unknown. The report says Manfred D. is now in pretrial detention and Hanning is due before a Karlsruhe investigating judge tomorrow. Konstantin von Notz calls for a full government explanation. In the complete follow-up interview, Holger Schmidt assesses serious personal and agency damage and possible imprisonment, expressly conditional on trial and proven guilt. He says the case may undermine international trust and demands for BND powers and staff after Jäger's hearing the previous day, while explicitly noting that Jäger was not in office during the alleged offenses.

Investigators arrest former BND president August Hanning and former office manager Manfred D. on espionage and treason-related suspicions. Tagesthemen describes an alleged twelve-year flow of about 2,000 BND documents for private-security work, foreign-intelligence contacts and discovery in a previous-year Christina Block-related search. Manfred D. is reported detained, while Hanning's judge appearance is expected the next day. Götschenberg/von Notz assess damage and demand clarification; Henrichmann calls for investigation, rebuilding trust and establishing the dossiers' actual sensitivity and extent. Kan's October 6 account adds discussion of Hanning's historical Israeli contacts; Danny Yatom rejects a business-partnership characterization and Yossi Melman doubts official Israeli spying. This establishes no confirmed foreign recipient. Tagesschau's full prosecution report and Schmidt answers describe potential personal and institutional damage conditional on trial and proven guilt, and stress that current BND president Jäger did not hold the office during the alleged offenses. Hanning's scheduled next-day judge appearance remains prospective; the former aide's reported detention and the distinct earlier Hamburg search are preserved.