Germany: Ex-spy chief arrested for espionage

(dw.com)

28 points | by Tomte 4 hours ago

6 comments

  • eqvinox 22 minutes ago
    Die Zeit has to say: "Ermittlungsarbeiten im Block-Prozess hatten den Fall ins Rollen gebracht."[1] = "Investigatory work during the [Christina] Block case had triggered this."

    Now who's Christina Block?

    "Die 53 Jahre alte Hamburger Unternehmerin Christina Block ist angeklagt, nach einem langen Sorgerechtsstreit eine israelische Sicherheitsfirma damit beauftragt zu haben, ihren damals 10-jährigen Sohn und die damals 13 Jahre alte Tochter vom Wohnort des Vaters Stephan Hensel in Dänemark nach Deutschland zu entführen."[2]

    =

    "The 53 year old entrepreneur from Hamburg is indicted for, after a long fight over custody, having hired an Israeli security company to abduct her 10-year old son and 13-year old daughter, to bring them to Germany from their father's residence in Denmark."

    …

    So, that's exactly one very likely guess which [if any] foreign country was involved here. (Hint: it's not Denmark.)

    [Ed.: NB: there's no guarantee any foreign country is involved. AIUI misappropriating state secrets is espionage even if you just shove them up your attic.]

    ¹ https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2026-10/august-hanni...

    ² https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/block-prozess-in-hamb...

  • srameshc 15 minutes ago
    I always liked and thought DW was one of the largest publishers in Germany but learned from a German friend that it was not a major public media organization and many don't know about it there.
    • a_bonobo 13 minutes ago
      It's the thing aimed at overseas; the German news here in Australia on SBS are also DW. Like you can't really get France 24 inside France, or NHK World inside of Japan, or CNN International within the US without some extra hoops
  • kakacik 1 hour ago
    Looking at timespan, 1998-2005. Of course under Gerhard Schröder, who is by all accounts a traitor to his own country, openly conspiring with enemy power (russia).

    Schröder is getting elected in various russian companies as member of boards still to this day (read last one like 2-3 days ago). Question is, why is this tolerated and there is no international warrant for his arrest. If French can arrest their former PM (heck, italians tried the same), Germans should also accept their missteps and do the necessary correction of their course.

    I could go on in very similar vein with merkel, but she clearly still has a small army of uncritical followers who are completely oblivious to all the damage she has done to entire EU even here.

    • rainingmonkey 27 minutes ago
      Is it illegal to sit on the board of a foreign company?

      I can see why it should be, but neither Schröder nor Russia are unique in this kind of conflict of interest.

    • darubedarob 1 hour ago
      [dead]
  • darubedarob 3 hours ago
    [dead]
  • nxobject 3 hours ago
    > The prosecutor's office did not say which foreign intelligence service was involved.

    Lovely. I'm guessing it's an ally.

    • edot 2 hours ago
      But also: “Whoever allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out“. So … Russia?
    • hackermolly 2 hours ago
      An „ally“