Secret services - Trial against BND employee from mid-December
An employee of the Federal Intelligence Service is to stand trial for alleged espionage for Russia at the Berlin Court of Appeal from December 13. This was announced by the court on Thursday. The 53-year-old has been charged with treason together with a 32-year-old alleged accomplice. Both are German and both are in custody. The trial is initially scheduled to last 51 trial days until July 17, 2024.
Together, the two men are alleged to have betrayed 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. According to the indictment, both cases are particularly serious.
BND employee Carsten L. was arrested in Berlin on December 21, 2022. In January, businessman Arthur E. was arrested 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.
On August 24, the federal prosecutor's office filed charges. It assumes that L. had printed out or photographed nine internal BND documents at his workstations in Berlin and Pullach near Munich on two occasions in September and October 2022. Arthur E. is said to have taken the secret information spied on by L. to Russia and handed it over to the secret service there.
According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, this was a state secret within the meaning of the German Criminal Code. In both cases, the disclosure is said to have "led to a risk of particularly serious harm to the external security of the Federal Republic of Germany".
Both defendants are alleged to have been paid by the Russian secret service. The FSB is said to have paid Carsten L. 450,000 euros and Arthur E. at least 400,000 euros for their services. L. allegedly helped E. to get past customs when re-entering the country. The two had known each other since May 2021. In September 2022, they are said to have met with a Russian who established contact with the FSB. According to the federal prosecutor's office, E. was in Moscow for several meetings.
According to the German Criminal Code, treason can be punished in particularly serious cases with a prison sentence of at least five years up to life imprisonment. According to the definition, this applies, for example, if the perpetrator has abused a position of responsibility that places him under a special obligation to protect state secrets.
Complicity means that everyone is punished as a perpetrator if several people commit a crime together.
The BND is Germany's foreign intelligence service. It informs the Federal Government about developments of importance to foreign and security policy. Around 6500 people work there.
According to a report by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", WDR and NDR, L. remained silent to the investigators about the allegations. E., on the other hand, had come clean. A Russian businessman is said to have established contact with the FSB. The latter had promised himself a permanent residence permit in Germany. It was also said that the FSB had asked the accused for information on the locations of US missile launchers and details of the German air defense system.
A trial could possibly take place partly in camera due to a large amount of classified information. The court is obviously expecting a large crowd and pointed out that there is only limited press space available.
Current notice Notice on the first arrest Notice on the second arrest Criminal Code on treason Criminal Code on state secrets Criminal Code on complicity Notice on the case at the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support Information on the BND Report of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung"
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Source: www.stern.de
