German officer who ‘threw CDs over wall for Russians’ convicted of spying

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/german-officer-who-threw-cds-over-wall-for-russians-convict/

by TheTelegraph

16 comments

  1. ***The Telegraph reports:***

    A former German military officer accused of throwing CDs containing official secrets over a wall into the Russian consulate in Bonn has been [convicted of spying.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/18/russian-spies-arrested-germany-attack-weapons-ukraine/)

    Thomas H admitted to contacting the Russians with secrets a number of times because he wanted to “prevent a nuclear [escalation of the Ukraine war](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news6/)”, claiming he feared for his family’s safety in a nuclear conflict.

    He was convicted on Monday at the Dusseldorf higher regional court of giving up military secrets and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

    The 54-year-old former army captain from Koblenz worked at the agency responsible for [equipping the Bundeswehr](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/24/german-army-plan-us-troops-fight-russia/) – the German army – with high-tech weaponry.

    State prosecutors accused him of [serving a state which had committed proven violations](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/23/essex-man-charged-spying-russia/) of international law. The said he had put military secrets on CD-Roms and thrown them over the wall into the Russian consulate in brown envelopes.

    Thomas H denied throwing CDs but acknowledged approaching the Russians. He attempted to make contact multiple times to offer his services to both the consulate and the Russian embassy in Berlin in 2022.

    **Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/german-officer-who-threw-cds-over-wall-for-russians-convict/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/german-officer-who-threw-cds-over-wall-for-russians-convict/)

  2. Did it ever dawn on him, that a USB stick is smaller than a CD and can hold much more data?

  3. Anyone here have experience with the German or Austrian army/intelligence that can shed some light on this for me?

    It seems there is a fair amount of sympathizers and collaborators from these two countries.

  7. I read he only received a 3.5 year conviction and blamed “overwork” and “fear of a greater war with Russia”…is this a normal sentencing for espionage in Germany? I know the U.S. can be pretty light handed depending on what was provided… but damn…

  9. I’m 99% sure the subheader there is wrong. CD-ROMs are pressed, not burned, so unless he was mass producing discs with that secret information, he wasn’t using CD -ROMs

  10. “He said his client had been drawn into an obsessive spiral of “fake news … on TikTok and Telegram”, which gave him the push to contact the Russian consulate in Bonn in May 2023.”

  13. Did he also get convicted of time travel? CDs? In 2024? Why? 😅

  14. I first thought that he was sending western music…

    Oh, well…

  15. He probably threw USB and hard-drive before, but due to sanctions, they asked for cd and floppy 💾 😂 🤣

  16. only 3.5 years in prison for this? that’s a slap on the wrist

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