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| Porn-actor-turned-spy who posed as jihadist gets suspended sentence | Porn-actor-turned-spy who posed as jihadist gets suspended sentence |
| (4 months later) | |
| Former German intelligence agent named as Roque M faced charge of attempting to share state secrets | |
| Agence France-Presse in Berlin | |
| Tue 19 Sep 2017 15.29 BST | |
| Last modified on Tue 19 Sep 2017 15.38 BST | |
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| A former German intelligence agent who was also once an actor in gay pornography has been given a one-year suspended sentence for attempting to share state secrets while pretending to be a jihadist online. | A former German intelligence agent who was also once an actor in gay pornography has been given a one-year suspended sentence for attempting to share state secrets while pretending to be a jihadist online. |
| The 52-year-old, named as Roque M, was arrested last November in what initially appeared to be a case of an Islamist mole at work in Germany’s domestic spy agency. | The 52-year-old, named as Roque M, was arrested last November in what initially appeared to be a case of an Islamist mole at work in Germany’s domestic spy agency. |
| He was freed in July after prosecutors dropped most of the charges, finding no evidence of an attack plot or ties to Islamist groups. | He was freed in July after prosecutors dropped most of the charges, finding no evidence of an attack plot or ties to Islamist groups. |
| He told the court he pretended to be a jihadist planning an attack in online chatrooms because he was bored. “I never met with any Islamists. I would never do that. The whole thing was like a game,” he said at the start of his trial in the western city of Düsseldorf. | He told the court he pretended to be a jihadist planning an attack in online chatrooms because he was bored. “I never met with any Islamists. I would never do that. The whole thing was like a game,” he said at the start of his trial in the western city of Düsseldorf. |
| A former banker and a father of four, Roque M told the court he monitored the Islamist scene as part of his job for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), a role he described as “a lot of fun”. | A former banker and a father of four, Roque M told the court he monitored the Islamist scene as part of his job for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), a role he described as “a lot of fun”. |
| He said he grew bored at weekends when he was at home with his disabled son, and immersed himself in the online world of Islamists, pretending to be one himself. | He said he grew bored at weekends when he was at home with his disabled son, and immersed himself in the online world of Islamists, pretending to be one himself. |
| It was “an escape from reality”, he said in court. | It was “an escape from reality”, he said in court. |
| He went as far as arranging a meeting with a suspected Islamist at a gym, although Roque M insisted he never had any intention of going. | He went as far as arranging a meeting with a suspected Islamist at a gym, although Roque M insisted he never had any intention of going. |
| He was caught when he offered to share classified information about BfV operations with someone who turned out to be a colleague working undercover. | He was caught when he offered to share classified information about BfV operations with someone who turned out to be a colleague working undercover. |
| The case initially sparked outrage, with Germany’s domestic spy agency fending off calls for a complete security overhaul for allowing an “Islamist” to infiltrate its team, who had passed multiple screenings. | The case initially sparked outrage, with Germany’s domestic spy agency fending off calls for a complete security overhaul for allowing an “Islamist” to infiltrate its team, who had passed multiple screenings. |
| The intelligence agent’s past as an actor in gay pornography also caught the public’s attention. | The intelligence agent’s past as an actor in gay pornography also caught the public’s attention. |
| As no evidence emerged of an actual Islamist plot, prosecutors left Roque M facing the sole charge of attempting to share state secrets. | As no evidence emerged of an actual Islamist plot, prosecutors left Roque M facing the sole charge of attempting to share state secrets. |
| Germany | |
| Europe | |
| Espionage | |
| news | |
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