Secret service - Suspicion of espionage - BND employee on trial
The federal prosecutor's office considers it treason: an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is alleged to have given Russia secret information.
Almost a year after the arrest of the 53-year-old, the trial into one of the most spectacular espionage cases of recent years begins today in Berlin under high security precautions. A 32-year-old diamond dealer is also on trial as an alleged accomplice.
The accusations of the federal prosecutor
The two Germans are alleged to have passed on secret information to the Russian secret service FSB in two cases in the fall of 2022 - a few months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The latter is said to have paid both defendants for their services: BND employee Carsten L. with 450,000 euros and businessman Arthur E. with at least 400,000 euros.
According to the investigators, Carsten L. allegedly printed out or photographed nine internal BND documents at his workstations in Berlin and Pullach near Munich in September and October 2022. Arthur E. then allegedly handed over the secret information he had spied on to the Russian secret service and met with FSB employees in Moscow on several occasions. The meetings were allegedly arranged by a Russian businessman whom E. knew. According to the indictment, he also booked and financed the businessman's flights.
The arrest of the men
Carsten L. was arrested in Berlin on December 21, 2022 and his home and workplace were searched. Arthur E. was arrested in January 2023 as a suspected accomplice when entering the country from the USA at Munich Airport. The investigation was conducted in close cooperation with the BND and with the support of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it was reported at the time. Both men have been in custody since then. On August 24, the federal prosecutor's office filed charges.
How the trial will proceed
According to the court, 51 trial days are initially scheduled until July 17, 2024. Due to a great deal of information classified as secret, the trial could take place partly in camera. Strict security measures are in place. Cell phones and laptops are not permitted in the courtroom. Wristwatches or jewelry such as signet rings or medallions may not be worn either. Even fountain pens or ballpoint pens are taboo. According to the court, pens are provided on site for taking notes.
"When it comes to secret services, you have to take your cue from James Bond," commented court spokeswoman Lisa Jani on the procedure. Such strict security measures were also in place during the trial for the spectacular kidnapping of the Vietnamese ex-manager Trinh Xuan Thanh in Berlin in the summer of 2017. In 2018, the Berlin Court of Appeal sentenced a defendant, also from Vietnam, and in 2023 an accomplice to several years in prison for secret service agent activities and aiding and abetting the deprivation of liberty.
Assessment by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office
According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the current espionage case is a state secret within the meaning of the German Criminal Code. In both cases, the disclosure of these secrets is said to have led to "a risk of particularly serious harm to the external security of the Federal Republic of Germany".
In its indictment, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office also alleges treason in a particularly serious case in each case. This can be punished with a prison sentence of at least five years up to life imprisonment - for example, if the perpetrator has abused a position of responsibility that places him under a special obligation to protect state secrets.
Other incidents at the BND
The BND is Germany's foreign intelligence service. With around 6,500 employees, the agency informs the German government about developments of foreign and security policy importance.
A so-called mole - a double agent - was last exposed there in 2014. The Munich Higher Regional Court later found the 32-year-old guilty of treason and violation of official secrets for years of espionage and sentenced him to eight years in prison. Between 2008 and 2014, the trained office administrator had passed on more than 200 BND documents, some of them top secret, to the US intelligence agency CIA and received at least 80,000 euros for doing so.
The dimensions of the case involving Carsten L. and Arthur E. were described as "quite serious" by Konstantin von Notz, deputy leader of the Green parliamentary group. "It is an example of massive failures in self-security," the chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. It was "right and extremely important to take the case as an opportunity to fundamentally review the security precautions within the intelligence services".
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- The federal prosecutor's office in Germany is handling a case of alleged treason, involving a BND employee who is accused of providing secret information to Russia's FSB.
- This trial, labeled as one of the most significant espionage cases in recent years, is taking place under high security measures in Berlin.
- An accomplice, a 32-year-old diamond dealer, is also on trial for his role in the alleged theft of secret information.
- The arrest of the 53-year-old BND employee occurred in Berlin in December 2022, with a search conducted at his home and workplace.
- The diamond dealer was arrested at Munich Airport in January 2023 upon entering Germany from the USA.
- The accusations against these men involve passing on secret information to the Russian FSB on two occasions in the fall of 2022.
- The Russian secret service reportedly paid both defendants for their services – 450,000 euros for the BND employee and at least 400,000 euros for the diamond dealer.
- According to investigators, the BND employee allegedly printed or photographed nine internal BND documents in Berlin and Pullach near Munich.
- The diamond dealer is then said to have handed over the secret information to the Russian FSB and met with FSB employees in Moscow on several occasions.
- The meetings were arranged by a Russian businessman known to the diamond dealer, who also reportedly booked and financed flight tickets for the businessman.
- The trial is anticipated to last for 51 days and may involve parts that are conducted in-camera due to the high level of classified information.
- The German Federal Public Prosecutor's Office assesses this case as a state secret under the German Criminal Code, with treason charges potentially leading to a prison sentence of at least five years.
Source: www.stern.de
