Head of Military Intelligence Service Arrested in Denmark | News from Germany about Europe

According to the Ritzau news agency and other Danish media outlets, the ousted head of the Danish military intelligence service (Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE) Lars Findsen was arrested more than a month ago on suspicion of leaking information from the special services and has been in pre-trial detention since then. On Monday, January 10, the Copenhagen Administrative Court overturned the ban on Findsen’s name in connection with his arrest.

The 54-year-old head of the intelligence service of the Danish Defense Ministry, through his lawyers, himself asked to lift the ban on the use of names. The specific charges against Findsen have not yet been reported.

Detention of four intelligence officers

On December 9, the second of two Danish intelligence agencies, the Police Security Service (PET), announced the detention of four active and former FE and PET employees the previous day in connection with an alleged transfer of sensitive data. PET also said it was a lengthy investigation that was still ongoing. Further details on this case were not disclosed.

According to the TV channels DR and TV2, only Findsen is currently under arrest, he denies the charges against him. He took over as FE in 2015 and was suspended in August 2020 after a critical report from the intelligence oversight agency alleging violations of the law and illegal data transfer. According to DR, this is about providing information to the media.

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