Azerbaijan rejected the reported connection as "disinformation" and a "smear campaign" and lodged a formal protest with Germany’s Chancellor’s Office and Foreign Ministry. Der Spiegel reported that investigators suspect Hanning prepared an analysis using classified BND information for a contact linked to Azerbaijani intelligence. Prosecutors say it remains unclear whether the analysis reached its intended recipient.
Separately, a Federal Court of Justice judge ordered Hanning, 80, held in custody on Oct. 7 following his arrest the previous day. Prosecutors allege his former office manager, Manfred D., supplied about 2,000 BND documents, many classified, for payment from 2010 to June 2022. Hanning allegedly used the information in private consulting work and to prepare an analysis for a foreign intelligence officer. Manfred D. is also in custody. Hanning, who led Germany’s foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005, has denied wrongdoing.