Danish secret service boss detained for classified information leak

Lars Findsen, the head of Denmark's military intelligence service, was detained more than a month ago after allegedly leaking classified information.

A ban on mentioning Findsen's name was lifted at a court hearing in Copenhagen, according to Ritzau news agency and other Danish media.

The reports said Findsen had asked for the ban to be lifted, through his defence lawyers.

Findsen told reporters that he denied the accusations, according to Ritzau.

Denmark has two secret services, the Foreign and Military Intelligence Service (FE) and the Police Intelligence Service (PET).

The PET said on December 9 that four active and former employees of the two secret services had been arrested a day earlier for passing on top secret information.

No further details about the case were given. As the investigations are taking place under conditions of secrecy, it was unclear what information they had passed on and when.

In custody

Only Findsen is still in custody, but the other three are still under investigation, according to DR and TV2.

Findsen had been FE chief since 2015 but was suspended in August 2020 after criticism by the intelligence regulator.

He was said to have broken the law and unlawfully passed on information about Danish citizens.

A special commission recently rejected the criticism.