Key facts
- Azerbaijan denied reports linking it to a German spy investigation.
- Former German intelligence chief August Hanning was detained on suspicion of espionage.
- Hanning allegedly received classified documents and prepared an analysis for a foreign intelligence service.
- Der Spiegel first reported the alleged Azerbaijani connection.
- Azerbaijan's Media and Broadcasting Council called the allegations "disinformation" and a "smear campaign."
- Azerbaijan has protested to the German government over the report.
Azerbaijan on Wednesday denied reports that former German intelligence chief August Hanning, who is accused of buying secret documents and using them in an analysis for a foreign spy service, had been in contact with an agent from Azerbaijan. The country's Media and Broadcasting Council stated that allegations of an Azerbaijani connection to the case, first reported by Der Spiegel, were unfounded.
The council described the reports as "disinformation" and part of an "intensive smear campaign" against Azerbaijan, intended to damage Azerbaijan-Germany relations. It called for international media outlets to adhere to principles of accuracy, objectivity, and fact-checking.
Hanning, who previously headed Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, was detained on Tuesday on suspicion of attempted treason and espionage. Prosecutors stated he allegedly paid a BND office manager for classified documents and used them to prepare an analysis for an officer of an unnamed foreign intelligence service.