The investigation into former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning has no connection to Azerbaijan, AnewZ reports, citing informed sources.
The case concerns other countries and that the alleged classified information obtained by Hanning was not shared with third parties.
German intelligence agencies have informed the Azerbaijani side that the matter concerns other countries.
Sources added that the documents obtained by Hanning were not passed on to a third party. He used the documents to prepare an analytical article. An article on the matter was first published by Der Spiegel, after which other media outlets linked the scandal to Azerbaijan. German prosecutors accuse Hanning of espionage and obtaining state secrets. However, it has not been disclosed which specific country or intelligence service is involved.
According to the sources, since the investigation is being conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, other state bodies in Germany cannot intervene in the matter.
Note that Azerbaijan protested against Germany’s Der Spiegel for mentioning Azerbaijan in connection with the investigation into former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning. Azerbaijan conveyed its protest both to the Office of the German Chancellor and the German Foreign Ministry through its intelligence services and diplomatic channels. Germany’s Der Spiegel, citing sources, mentioned Azerbaijan in connection with the investigation into former BND chief August Hanning. The publication alleged that while serving as head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, August Hanning spied in favor of Azerbaijan, prepared certain classified reports and handed them over to the Azerbaijani side.
The Media and Broadcasting Council also issued a statement on the matter. The statement noted that it is a matter of serious concern that unfounded allegations linking Azerbaijan to the investigation in question, initially published by Germany’s Der Spiegel and subsequently circulated by Reuters, AFP, France 24, The Times, The Telegraph and other international media outlets, have been presented to a broad audience as fact. The statement added that circulating such materials without reference to an official source is considered unacceptable information manipulation.
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