Denmark’s former intelligence chief has been formally charged with leaking highly classified information.

Lars Findsen is said to have “disclosed state secrets or other particularly confidential information” to six people, including two journalists, prosecutors allege.

The leaked material is said to have originated from Findsen’s time at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, which he took charge of in 2015.

He was suspended in August 2020 and detained in December last year over the alleged leaks, before being remanded in custody in January.

Prosecutor Jakob Berger Nielsen said in a statement on Friday: “It is, of course, serious when secrets or other confidential information, which is essential for the intelligence services work to protect Denmark’s security, is passed on to outsiders.

“It can damage the relationship with the intelligence services’ business partners and it can make it more difficult to carry out their work if their working methods are revealed – just as the trust that intelligence services can care about sensitive information is weakened.”

The charges follow a “long and extensive investigation” by police and Denmark’s national security and intelligence agency, the Police Intelligence Service, which Findsen previously led from 2002 until 2007.

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Details of the charges are unknown as the case has been conducted behind closed doors – meaning it is shrouded in secrecy.

Findsen has previously protested his innocence, branding the situation as “complete insanity”.

“I want the charges brought forward and I plead not guilty,” he told reporters at a hearing in the Danish capital in January.

Prosecutors are planning to request a prison sentence of at least four years is imposed if Findsen is found guilty. A date for the trial, likely to be closed to the public, has yet to be confirmed.

Findsen was appointed head of department at Denmark’s Ministry of Defence in between working for the Police Intelligence Service and Danish Defence Intelligence Service.

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