"""

What charges are prosecutors making?

August Hanning, the former head of the BND (Germany's Federal Intelligence Service), is under investigation on suspicion of espionage and treason and has been detained in Germany. The Federal Prosecutor's Office says Hanning, who led the service from 1998 to 2005, prepared analyses using classified information for a foreign intelligence service and maintained contact with another foreign agency. The countries involved in the investigation have not been disclosed.

Allegation of around 2,000 documents

According to prosecutors, Hanning gained access to a large number of sensitive agency documents through former BND employee Manfred D. They say roughly 2,000 documents were passed to Hanning over the years, many of which contained information classified for internal use only.

What charges have been brought against the second suspect?

Police also detained Manfred D, who is said to have left his post at the agency this year. Prosecutors allege that the suspect, formerly Hanning's chief of staff, later continued working alongside his successors, used that position to access classified information and sold it to Hanning for money. Local media reported that Hanning was arrested at his home in Nordwalde near Münster, while Manfred D was detained in Bavaria.

  • Hanning is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
  • Manfred D is scheduled to appear before a judge on Tuesday.

How broad is the investigation?

Manfred D faces charges of aiding attempted treason and assisting espionage aimed at treason. Prosecutors also allege that Hanning used classified intelligence in one case to prepare an analysis for an operative from a foreign service, and that he passed political information to a representative of another foreign service over a period of years.

How did the case emerge, and why is the BND back in the spotlight?

Local media said the investigation came to light during a separate case linked to Christina Block, an heir to a restaurant chain. Hamburg prosecutors accuse Block of organizing the 2023 abduction of her two young children amid a custody dispute, and investigators reportedly found sensitive data on an electronic storage device that also contained recent BND documents. Hanning denies any role in what he describes as a previously planned kidnapping attempt involving the children.

Another similar case

Germany's BND has also been drawn into similar security controversies in recent years. In 2023, a senior intelligence officer was charged with treason over allegations that he passed state secrets to Russia about the war in Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group; that trial is ongoing.

"""