August Hanning

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August Hanning (born February 16, 1946 in Nordwalde ) is a retired German civil servant , former president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and businessman. Most recently he was State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior until November 10, 2009 .

education and profession

Until 1975 he studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau and Münster . This was followed by his doctorate , also in Münster. From 1976 he worked as a consultant in the financial administration of North Rhine-Westphalia , from 1977 he worked as a consultant in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. In 1981 he moved to the Federal Chancellery in Bonn , where he initially worked in the environmental department. From 1986 to 1990, Hanning served as a security officer at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in East Berlin . In this function he was also responsible for the release of prisoners. In 1990 he moved back to the Federal Chancellery, where he became a close associate of the Federal Intelligence Officer , Bernd Schmidbauer . In 1996 he was appointed head of department there.

On December 17, 1998 he succeeded Hansjörg Geiger as President of the Federal Intelligence Service. During his term of office, the decision to move the BND from Pullach to Berlin was made. Hanning was of the opinion that the secret service should also be locally close to the government. He saw the BND as a service provider for the federal government. On the one hand, he received special praise for his work for his work with other authorities; on the other hand, he was accused internally of the Federal Intelligence Service of paying too little attention to the concerns of employees. The Bavarian Interior Minister Günther Beckstein describes it as "one of its most important pillars".

On December 1, 2005, Hanning was appointed State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, with responsibility for police matters, federal police matters, internal security, migration, integration, refugees, European harmonization, crisis management and BOS radio . With effect from November 10th, 2009 it has been put into temporary retirement . His successor was Klaus-Dieter Fritsche .

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

In December 2002, Hanning wrote to the head of the CIA, George Tenet , that the information provided by the informant Curveball about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could not be confirmed. Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented this uncertain source to the UN Security Council in February 2003 as a rationale for the Iraq war .

Affairs and positions

In the case of 2002-2006 in Guantanamo detained Murat Kurnaz , a born in Germany and grew up a Turkish citizen, to Hanning to media reports have spoken out in 2002 against a return Kurnaz to the Federal Republic, as the Americans had offered Kurnaz to release. At the end of 2002, after an interrogation of Kurnaz by German officials on Guantanamo, even the Federal Intelligence Service came to the conclusion that Kurnaz was completely innocent. By speaking out "in favor of an entry ban for Germany", however, Hanning argued that the United States should deport Kurnaz to Turkey and not to Germany. The United States then withdrew their offer.

Investigative committees of the Bundestag (“Committee to Investigate the Alleged Spying of Journalists by the BND” and “Committee to Investigate BND Activities in Iraq and CIA Flights inland”) wanted to hear Hanning as a witness.

In October 2015, Hanning spoke up with a “10-point program” in which he outlined the measures the German federal government should take in the “current migration crisis ”. For Hanning, regaining control over the German borders was the most important measure, alongside the "strict application of national and supranational law". In addition, he urged u. a. the "restriction of family reunification " and a " residence obligation for migrants, combined with reductions in benefits or the exclusion of benefits in the event of a violation of the residence obligation".

Business activities

Hanning has been a member of Bundesdruckerei's supervisory board since December 2009. Together with his wife, he runs the company Hanning Consult, which most recently had equity of over one million euros. He is also Russia boss of the British consulting firm G3 , a member of the management of the security company System 360 AG and President of the System 360 AG parent company Pluteos AG.

Awards

family

August Hanning is married and has three daughters.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Annette Ramelsberger: Code name openness. He travels to crisis areas and sees himself as a service provider for the government. August Hanning received praise for his new course, but there were internal objections. How the head of the Federal Intelligence Service turned his authority inside out. (No longer available online.) In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. October 6, 2004, archived from the original on December 13, 2009 ; Retrieved December 25, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Bad Information: US Officials Accuse German Intelligence of Pre-Iraq War Failures. Five years ago, US troops marched into Iraq, convinced they would find weapons of mass destruction. One threat seemed particularly palpable - biological weapons produced in mobile facilities. US officials now say the assumption originated in part from bad intelligence out of Germany. (No longer available online.) In: spiegel.de. March 28, 2008, archived from the original on August 21, 2014 ; accessed on December 25, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Kurnaz accuses Germans of torture. Stern , October 4, 2006, accessed April 23, 2020 .
  4. ^ "On June 18, 2009 the so-called BND committee of inquiry presented its final report." - 1st committee of inquiry - summaries of the hearings (hib reports) ( Memento of September 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ The Hanning paper can be read in full from Stefan Aust, Claus Christian Malzahn: "Refugee crisis: Security experts appalled by German politics" , Die Welt , October 25, 2015
  6. ↑ Members of the Supervisory Board. (No longer available online.) In: Bundesdruckerei.de. Bundesdruckerei, archived from the original on September 27, 2010 ; Retrieved December 25, 2014 .
  7. ^ A b Hans-Martin Tillack : What connects the two ex-chief spies with an obscure company. Stern , March 12, 2020, accessed April 23, 2020 .
  8. ↑ G3, g3.co (no date).
  9. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF file; 6.59 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Hanning, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician, former President of the Federal Intelligence Service and State Secretary
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH North forest