Germany starts trial of alleged Russian spy

One year after his arrest, Carsten L.* is getting his trial. The former employee of Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND) stands accused of passing along information to the Russian state. 

Suspected treason is never a small affair, but the case comes at a particularly sensitive geopolitical moment. The arrest came in the same year as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which forced Germany to dramatically curtail its ties with Russia.

Carsten L. will stand before a Berlin court on Wednesday, December 13, along with an accomplice, Arthur E.. They are alleged to have conspired with a businessman in Russia.

German prosecutors say they worked with US federal law enforcement, the FBI, to collect evidence to use against the defendants. They say nine BND documents are at the center of the investigation, which formed the basis of the suspected treasonous activity. 

In an effort to collect technical data, Carsten L. allegedly printed out or photographed top-secret material from his computer at the BND's headquarters in Berlin and an offsite location in September and October 2022. Arthur E. is accused of taking that information to Moscow, where he passed it on to Russian intelligence (FSB).

The FSB asked specific questions that were of particular interest, the German indictment says, which Carsten L. and Arthur E. addressed by providing more information.

In the process, they divulged state secrets, prosecutors say, that caused "particularly serious harm to national security." 

For their espionage services, Carsten L. and Arthur E. allegedly received €450,000 and at least €400,000 from Russian authorities, respectively ($485,000 and $431,000).

In the year between arrest and trial, the BND has revised the damage the alleged espionage inflicted on German security. It is not as severe as first thought, BND President Bruno Kahl told the German daily, Tagesspiegel.

The leak was "very manageable" and ultimately of "little use" to Russia, he said.

Increased scrutiny at BND

Given the political backdrop, the revelation of Russian spies in the ranks of German intelligence is not a good look for the BND or the German government more broadly. Staff now have to undergo increased security checks. The BND also has to adapt to a "security environment in a state of upheaval," Kahl told a parliamentary oversight committee in October.

With large-scale and great-power war back in Europe, the BND needs to change course, he told lawmakers.

*DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

This article was originally written in German.

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