Former head of Danish intelligence charged over leaks
AFP - [email protected]
Published: 16 Sep, 2022 CET.
Updated: Fri 16 Sep 2022 14:52 CET
Danish prosecutors on Friday charged the
country's former military intelligence chief with leaking state secrets,
following a scandal over Denmark's cooperation with US intelligence.
The prosecution authority said Lars Findsen was accused of "having divulged secrets important to national security on several occasions and... under particularly aggravated circumstances".
The details of the investigation are classified, but the case comes after Danish media reported that the Danish intelligence services had cooperated with the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Findsen, who was suspended in August 2020 without public explanation, was subsequently held in custody from December 2021 to February 2022. He insists he is innocent.
"I never divulged any state secrets. I reject the allegations", he told Danish news agency Ritzau in June, criticising the handling of the case as "ridiculous".
Prosecutors accuse Findsen of leaking state secrets and other confidential information after his suspension to six people, including two journalists, over a period of up to 17 months.
The leaks could "harm relations with other intelligence service partners and make their work more difficult if their work methods were revealed", prosecutor Jakob Berger Nielsen said.
"Trust in the (Danish) intelligence service's ability to protect sensitive information may have been weakened," he added.
The prosecution said it would request a trial behind closed doors. A date has yet to be set.
While Denmark never publicly revealed why Findsen and the other agents were suspended, there have been suspicions that his service conducted illegal surveillance.
The government accused them of hiding "crucial information" and providing "false information to the authorities" between 2014 and 2020.
In May 2021, an investigation by several Danish media revealed that the NSA used Danish underwater cables to spy on officials in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden until at least 2014.
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel was among the NSA's targets.
The revelations sparked an international scandal and the four countries demanded explanations from Washington and Copenhagen.
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The prosecution authority said Lars Findsen was accused of "having divulged secrets important to national security on several occasions and... under particularly aggravated circumstances".
The details of the investigation are classified, but the case comes after Danish media reported that the Danish intelligence services had cooperated with the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Findsen, who was suspended in August 2020 without public explanation, was subsequently held in custody from December 2021 to February 2022. He insists he is innocent.
"I never divulged any state secrets. I reject the allegations", he told Danish news agency Ritzau in June, criticising the handling of the case as "ridiculous".
Prosecutors accuse Findsen of leaking state secrets and other confidential information after his suspension to six people, including two journalists, over a period of up to 17 months.
The leaks could "harm relations with other intelligence service partners and make their work more difficult if their work methods were revealed", prosecutor Jakob Berger Nielsen said.
"Trust in the (Danish) intelligence service's ability to protect sensitive information may have been weakened," he added.
The prosecution said it would request a trial behind closed doors. A date has yet to be set.
While Denmark never publicly revealed why Findsen and the other agents were suspended, there have been suspicions that his service conducted illegal surveillance.
The government accused them of hiding "crucial information" and providing "false information to the authorities" between 2014 and 2020.
In May 2021, an investigation by several Danish media revealed that the NSA used Danish underwater cables to spy on officials in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden until at least 2014.
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel was among the NSA's targets.
The revelations sparked an international scandal and the four countries demanded explanations from Washington and Copenhagen.
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