Hanning has admitted holding files but denies treason, the Financial Times reported. He and his former office manager, Manfred D., were arrested on Oct. 6, and a judge ordered Hanning held in custody the following day. Prosecutors allege the aide supplied about 2,000 BND documents, many classified, for payment from 2010 to June 2022, which Hanning used in private consulting work.
Der Spiegel also reported that Hanning prepared an intelligence analysis for a contact linked to Azerbaijan’s intelligence service. Azerbaijan rejected any connection, calling the reports “disinformation” and a “smear campaign,” and lodged a formal protest with Berlin. A senior Azerbaijani official told Reuters that German intelligence had privately denied a connection. Federal prosecutors have not publicly identified the foreign service, declined to comment on the Azerbaijan reporting and say it remains unclear whether the analysis reached its intended recipient.