Azerbaijan has strongly rejected allegations that its intelligence services received classified information from former German intelligence chief August Hanning, who was arrested in Germany on suspicion of treason and espionage.

The allegations emerged after German authorities announced the arrest of Hanning, the former president of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), along with his former chief of staff. German prosecutors allege that Hanning obtained and commercially exploited thousands of government documents, including material containing classified information, over a period spanning more than a decade.

The case has drawn particular attention because German media have identified Azerbaijan as the alleged foreign recipient of intelligence-related material. Baku, however, has dismissed the reporting as false and accused unnamed forces of attempting to damage relations between Azerbaijan and Germany.

Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced Hanning’s arrest on Oct. 6, saying investigators suspected him of obtaining “nearly two thousand documents, many of which contained classified information,” with the assistance of his former chief of staff, identified as Manfred D.

According to prosecutors, the alleged activity took place between 2010 and 2022 and involved the transfer of documents in exchange for payment. At the time, Hanning had already left government service, having served as BND president from 1998 to 2005. Manfred D., however, remained connected to the intelligence service and served as chief of staff to several successive BND presidents from March 2012 until March 2026.

German authorities allege that Hanning subsequently used the classified material as part of........

© Blitz