Intelligence Service report confirms BND spied on reporters

The German government’s parliamentary committee has confirmed allegations that Foreign Intelligence Agency (BND) agents illegally spied on journalists to expose their sources. The 180-page parliamentary report made public determined that measures taken by the BND against German reporters in an effort to shut off leaks violated the law. BND agents picked through the journalists’ rubbish and traced their research, the report stated. While none of the reporters were bugged, agents used other measures against them to try to uncover their sources, including stealing a box of his papers that one journalist had thrown away and tracing another’s research in the federal archive. After its publication, the German government announced that past and current BND employees would be investigated on the basis of the report. The head of the BND, Ernst Uhrlau, apologised to the media shortly after it was released and promised to take steps to prevent such abuses in future. (Deutsche Welle, May 29, 2006)

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