ArmInfo. August Hanning, the former president of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), was detained for espionage and allegedly preparing an analytical report for Azerbaijani intelligence, according to media reports citing Der Spiegel.
Hanning headed the BND from 1998 to 2005. After leaving intelligence, he became State Secretary of the German Ministry of the Interior and later pursued entrepreneurial activity.
Hanning and Manfred D., a former high-ranking German intelligence official who previously headed Hanning's office and worked for the intelligence service until the spring of 2026, were detained on October 6, and their homes were searched.
According to the publication, Hanning received unknown "secret" He obtained documents through his former chief of staff at the BND and used them to create a report. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, this document was then to be forwarded to "an employee of a foreign intelligence security apparatus."
According to Spiegel, the alleged client was an Azerbaijani intelligence officer. It is unknown whether the analysis ever reached its intended recipient.
The publication also notes that Hanning's connections to Azerbaijani representatives were not concealed, as he served on the board of the German-Azerbaijani Forum.
The investigation against Hanning began after searches of his home and offices in September 2025 in connection with a separate case – the alleged kidnapping of the children of businesswoman Christina Block. While examining the seized materials, police discovered an electronic device containing classified German intelligence documents. The materials were then handed over to federal authorities, and in May 2026, the Prosecutor General's Office launched an investigation into Hanning and the alleged source of the information within the intelligence service.
According to investigators, by June 2022, D. supplied Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents for payment, including many classified materials.
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