Status: 23.12.2022 9:24 am
Was a BND agent spying for Russia? After the arrest of a suspect in Berlin, Justice Minister Buschmann praised the investigators for the “important strike against Russian espionage” and urged vigilance.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has called for vigilance against Russian espionage. This is shown by the case of the BND employee arrested yesterday, who is in custody on suspicion of treason. “If the suspicion is confirmed, an important blow against Russian espionage has been struck here,” wrote the FDP politician on Twitter.
BND calls for “restraint and discretion”
The accused Carsten L. is said to have transmitted information that he obtained in the course of his work to a Russian intelligence service this year. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe announced that the content was a state secret within the meaning of the Criminal Code. A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office did not say whether this happened after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Out of consideration for the ongoing investigations, the Federal Intelligence Service will not publicly comment on the details of the case until further notice, stressed BND President Bruno Kahl in Berlin. “Restraint and discretion are very important in this particular case.” With Russia, on the other hand, we are dealing with an actor “whose unscrupulousness and willingness to use violence we have to reckon with,” added the president of the German foreign intelligence service.
The reason for these statements could be the concern about possible dangers for contacts and informers of the German secret service in Russia, who could have been betrayed by the suspected spy in the ranks of the BND. Kahl emphasized that every detail of the process that was made public “means an advantage for this opponent with the intention of harming Germany”.
Michael Stempfle, ARD Berlin, on the suspicion of treason against a BND employee
daily topics 10:45 p.m., 22.12.2022
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, described this approach as correct. “Anyone who has anything to do with Russia knows that people who could possibly say something about it are easily eliminated,” she said BR. “And for that reason alone, to protect them, it would be good not to go into more detail.”
In any case, the case is “a wake-up call to everyone that Russia is no exception to spying on us, too, in order to destabilize our system in the Federal Republic,” said Strack-Zimmermann. “The good news is that anyone spying for Russia needs to know that they need to be aware of being discovered. The authorities are wide awake and will strike if need be.”
What punishment does Carsten L. face?
According to the Criminal Code, treason can be punished with a prison sentence of at least five years or life imprisonment in particularly serious cases like this one. Such a case exists, for example, if the perpetrator has abused a responsible position that places him under a special obligation to protect state secrets.
Alleged cases of espionage have also become public in other European countries this year. Austrian investigators uncovered a Greek as a suspected spy. This is said to have provided information to Russia in connection with the Ukraine war. In Norway, police have arrested a man believed to be the son of one of Putin’s associates for illegally flying a drone.