Lars Johan Findsen (born 17 September 1964) is a Danish

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

and former

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who served as chief of the

Danish Defence Intelligence Service The Danish Defence Intelligence Service, DDIS ( da, Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE), is a Danish intelligence agency, responsible for Denmark’s foreign intelligence, as well as being the Danish military intelligence service. DDIS is an a ...

(DDIS) from 2015 to 2020 when he was relieved of duty due to concerns from the

regulatory body A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulatin ...

of the DDIS. In December 2021, it surfaced that Findsen, along with three other employees of the DDIS and PET, had been

arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

and remained in custody on charges of leaking

classified information Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to k ...

. Findsen was released from custody in February 2022 after a judge ruling, though the Prosecution Service has continued with the case and formally accused Findsen in September 2022. Findsen has denied that he is guilty.

Education and career

Findsen obtained his

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

Sønderborg (; german: Sonderburg ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,766 (1 January 2022),Gymnasium and went on to study law at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, where he graduated with a

Candidate of Law Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. N ...

in 1990. He chose to study law for the sole purpose of becoming a

police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

. Findsen started his career in 1990 working in the Danish Data Surveillance Authority. From 1993 to 2002 he worked various positions in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. After leaving the Ministry of Justice and after a brief stint as chief of the civil intelligence agency of Denmark from 2002 to 2007, Findsen became department chief for the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. He served in this position until 2015 when he was appointed chief of the

. In 2003 he was made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog.

Alleged leaking of state secrets

In August 2020 Findsen and two other employees of the DDIS were relieved of their position by then Minister of Defence

Trine Bramsen Trine Bramsen (born 26 March 1981 in Svendborg) is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats, who has been a member of the Folketing since 2011. She served as minister of transport from February to December 2022, and minister of defence from 201 ...

due to concerns from the watchdog of the DDIS over withholding of information. Around a year later, in December 2021, a special commission investigating the concerns acquitted Findsen and the rest of the management of the DDIS of wrongdoing, though Findsen had already been arrested by this time. Findsen was arrested in December 2021 and charged with leaking classified information under, among others, the rarely-used paragraph 109 of the

Danish Penal Code The Danish Penal Code, also known as the Danish Criminal Code ( da, Straffeloven),Retsinformation.dStraffeloven./ref> is the codification of and the foundation of criminal law in Denmark. The updated official full text covers 29 chapters and is al ...

. The paragraph carries a maximum sentence of 12 years. Findsen remained in custody until 17 February 2022. Following his release, Findsen has been subject to extensive surveillance by Danish police, including secret recording of conversations in his home. In September 2022 Findsen was formally accused by the Danish Prosecution Service, indicating they deem there is sufficient evidence for sentencing, of leaking classified information to a total of six people, including two journalists. The exact circumstances of the violations remain unknown and the case will be decided upon behind closed doors. In October 2022 Findsen and

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

Mette Albæk of

Jyllands-Posten ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circu ...

released the book ''Spionchefen: Erindringer fra celle 18'' (The spy chief: Memories from cell 18). To avoid potential interference, the book was written in secret, entirely without internet access and with Findsen writing corrections by hand. In the book, former Minister of Defence Trine Bramsen is accused of relieving Findsen for political reasons, and

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

is accused of offering Findsen a deal whereby the court would be milder in its judgement in return for Findsen giving up who the press has as sources within PET and for admitting to something, the latter of which has been deemed illegal by several legal experts. PET has denied doing anything illegal and Trine Bramsen has denied acting for political reasons. Findsen has publicly supported Bramsen commenting on his case. Minister of Justice

Mattias Tesfaye Mattias Tesfaye (born 31 March 1981 in Aarhus) is a Danish politician serving as Minister for Education and Children since 2022. He was previously Minister for Justice from February to December 2022 and Minister for Immigration and Integration f ...

said he could neither deny nor confirm the allegations presented in the book. The book, being released during campaigning for the

2022 Danish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 1 November 2022, except in the Faroe Islands, where they were held on 31 October as 1 November was a national day of mourning for victims at sea. Of the 179 members of the Folketing, 175 we ...

, resulted in an immediate political reaction. A political majority including the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

, Venstre, The Conservatives, the Red-Green Alliance,

Liberal Alliance Liberal Alliance may refer to: *Liberal Alliance (Chile), a historical political party in Chile *Liberal Alliance (Denmark), a political party in Denmark, formerly known as ''New Alliance'' *Liberal Alliance (Greece), a political party in Greece *L ...

and Moderaterne have supported the creation of a commission to investigate the case. Although most parties support a commission, they disagree on when the commission should be created. Venstre supports an immediate commission while the Social Democrats support awaiting the judgement of the courts in the case.

Bibliography

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Education and career

Alleged leaking of state secrets

Bibliography

References

See also