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British Embassy in Berlin (archive photo)
Photo: FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS
A suspected Russian spy who was recently exposed in Germany is to be extradited to Great Britain.
According to SPIEGEL information, a request from London has reached the competent Brandenburg Public Prosecutor's Office, as the authority confirmed on request.
A decision on this is still pending, but resistance from the German authorities is not expected.
The federal prosecutor's office accuses David S. of having passed on information from his workplace at the gate of the British embassy in Berlin to a Russian intelligence service since November 2020 at the latest.
It is said to have been mainly British material, but information about employees of the Foreign Office was also provided at least once.
In return, he is said to have received cash in an as yet unknown amount.
According to the investigators, this indicates that he did not withdraw money from his account for a long period of time and did not make any payments by card.
S. is a citizen of the United Kingdom and was employed by the embassy as a local worker.
The investigations by the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Prosecutor's Office against him had been preceded by a joint operation by British and German security authorities.
If the allegations are confirmed, S. is one of a number of Russian spies who were most recently discovered in Germany.
The German security authorities repeatedly warn against the activities of Russian intelligence services in Germany.
Only recently the mysterious death of a Russian diplomat in Berlin caused a sensation.
The security authorities assigned him to the Russian foreign intelligence service SWR.
When asked, his lawyer said that he did not want to be returned to his home country.
He made a conscious decision to leave the UK 16 years ago.
S. wants to face criminal proceedings in Germany.
So far, he has remained silent on the allegations.
fis / jdl / srö