The head of the Armed Forces’ Intelligence Service in Denmark, Lars Findsen, has been imprisoned in a leak case.
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This was revealed during a court hearing on Monday, where a previous name ban in the case was lifted, according to Danish TV 2. The judge emphasizes, among other things, that it is Findsen himself who has requested that the name ban be lifted.
Findsen has been in custody since 9 December and has been released from service since August 2020 after an audit publicly criticized the Armed Forces’ Intelligence Service for spying on Danish citizens unjustifiably.
The exact charges against him are still kept secret, because the case takes place behind closed doors, writes Danmarks Radio.
Aimed at in secret
Findsen was secretly charged with leaking secret information and highly classified information that could damage Denmark’s security or relations with other powers.
However, the charge falls under the very serious provision on “treason” in the Danish penal code, which can be punished with up to twelve years in prison. The section has not been in use for 40 years in Denmark.
It is not clear who the information was leaked to.
“The fact that Denmark’s chief of the Armed Forces’ intelligence service has been imprisoned for a month, while a case of leaks from intelligence services has been investigated, is a bomb in the spy service’s work and reputation, potentially harmful to the nation and never seen before,” writes Danish TV 2.
According to information to Denmark’s radio has the police intelligence service (PET), which is Denmark’s second intelligence service, tapped his phones.
Few have over the years kept more secrets in Denmark than 57-year-old Findsen, who shortly after the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 was appointed leader of PET, writes NTB.
Seven years later, he became head of department in the Ministry of Defense, before taking over as head of FE in 2015.
Findsen has also had a permanent seat on the Danish government’s security committee for the past 20 years.
Three other current and former employees of FE and the Danish Surveillance Police (PET) were also arrested and charged in the case. Only Findsen is in custody.
One of the more well-known leaks from the military intelligence service was media coverage in May 2021 about that Danish intelligence is said to have allowed the United States to spy on politicians in Norway, Sweden, Germany and France.
The then Prime Minister Erna Solberg told NRK that it is unacceptable if it is true that the United States has spied on Norwegian politicians.
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