A 65-year-old reserve officer of the German Bundeswehr has to answer to court for alleged espionage for the Russian secret service. The man, who apparently was not paid for his activities, faces up to ten years in prison.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the man from Erkrath near Düsseldorf has released information about German reservists and civil-military cooperation in crisis situations. It also discussed the effects of the Russia sanctions imposed in 2014 and the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which has since been discontinued. Some of the collected documents appear to come from publicly accessible sources, but also from non-public sources.
“Sympathy for Russia”
Since no money could be found, the investigators suspect that the motive was “sympathy for the Russian Federation”. “The defendant was trying to make himself interesting,” a representative of the authority said on Thursday. He was noticed because he was invited to official events by the Russian authorities.
Already made a partial confession
The lieutenant colonel’s lawyer announced that his client would respond to the allegations, but not until a later date. The 65-year-old had already made a partial confession during the investigation, a court spokeswoman said.
Source: Krone
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