- Published
It is a trial that has gripped Germany, with a wealthy heiress in the dock for months and a case that triggered the country's biggest espionage scandal in recent history.
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that → publish → history
Christina Block, heir to a popular chain of steakhouses, is accused of ordering an Israeli security firm to carry out the violent abduction of her children from Denmark, following a bitter custody battle with her former husband.
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Block → accuse → husband
In the latest twist, investigators in the case stumbled across evidence that has led to Germany's former intelligence chief, August Hanning, being arrested this month for treason and espionage.
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chief → stumble → treason
Hanning's arrest stunned the intelligence community.
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arrest → stun → community
Although his case has nothing to do with the Hamburg trial, he has denied allegations of involvement in an earlier attempted abduction of the children.
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he → have → children
There was enormous media interest in Germany when Christina Block and six others went on trial in a high-security courtroom in Hamburg in July last year.
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Block → be → July
Block House restaurants, specialising in steak and baked potatoes, are a feature of many German towns.
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restaurants → specialise → towns
Their success over the past half century has helped make Christina Block's father Eugen a multimillionaire.
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father → help → century
Prosecutors allege that she and a family lawyer, Andreas Costard, organised the forcible abduction of two of her children, who were staying with her former husband, Stephan Hensel, at his home in Denmark.
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who → allege → Denmark
They say the operation was carried out by a 36-year-old Israeli citizen named only as Jonathan G and five others.
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operation → say → G
The abduction took place during the New Year celebrations of 2023-24, as the two children and their father were watching a firework display, according to the indictment.
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children → take → indictment
Prosecutors say several men ambushed and beat up Stephan Hensel, and dragged the boy and the girl, then 10 and 13 years old, into a car.
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men → say → car
On the approach to the border with Germany, they are alleged to have changed vehicles, taped up the children's mouths and tied the girl's hands.
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they → allege → hands
The group are then said to have travelled on to Baden-Württemberg in a campervan.
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group → say → campervan
Prosecutors say the children were held there against their will until their mother arrived to pick them up on 2 January 2024 and took them to her home in Hamburg.
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mother → say → Hamburg
Christina Block, Andreas Costard and Jonathan G are charged with the abduction of minors, grievous bodily harm and unlawful detention.
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Block → charge → minors
Block's partner, a former TV sports presenter called Gerhard Delling, and three others are charged with aiding and abetting.
All of them deny wrongdoing, except for Jonathan G, who has admitted his involvement.
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who → call → involvement
However, he told the court he thought he was taking part in a rescue operation.
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he → tell → operation
The trial comes after years of legal battles between Christina Block and her former husband, Stephan Hensel, over who had the right to look after the children.
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who → come → children
Immediately after their separation, all four children lived with their mother in Hamburg.
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children → live → Hamburg
Hensel, who remarried, later moved to Denmark, where they regularly visited him.
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they → remarry → him
In 2021, the two youngest children went to visit their father in Denmark, but then were not brought back to Hamburg as agreed.
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children → go → Hamburg
A court in Hamburg ruled that Christina had custody and that the children should be returned.
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children → rule → custody
However, in February 2023, a Danish court ruled that, although the boy and the girl had been brought to Denmark unlawfully, they could not be taken back.
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they → rule → Denmark
In May 2023, Hensel was charged with the abduction of minors, in a case which is still pending.
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which → charge → case
He has accused Christina of being violent with the children, charges she denies.
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she → accuse → charges
She told the court Hensel wanted to take revenge on her.
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Hensel → tell → her
She also denied knowing anything about plans for the abduction of the children from Denmark.
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She → deny → Denmark
Her defence argues that the Israeli security team had acted on its own initiative.
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team → argue → initiative
She told the court it was "a catastrophe" and that she had never wanted anything like that.
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she → tell → that
The head of the Israeli security team, David Barkay, who is not on trial but faces future legal proceedings, told the court that Christina Block and Costard had known about the planned repatriation operation.
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Block → face → operation
Barkay, who was described by another witness as a former agent with Mossad, the Israeli secret service, said he had not shared all the details because he "didn't trust them."
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he → describe → them
The alleged connection with Germany's former spy chief, August Hanning, relates to accusations of an earlier attempt to abduct the children and bring them back from Denmark in 2022.
Prosecutors have said Hanning was responsible for arranging security staff sent to Denmark with Christina Block.
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Hanning → allege → Block
His lawyer denies the accusations.
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lawyer → deny → accusations
Hanning has not been charged over the current Block court case.
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Hanning → charge → case
However, while investigators were searching his home, they came across evidence to suggest Hanning was involved in buying some 2,000 documents from his former chief of staff and then passing on state secrets to foreign powers.
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Hanning → search → powers
Which foreign power and who he is alleged to have given the secrets to is unspecified, but it has prompted widespread speculation.
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it → allege → speculation
Now 80, Hanning is in custody charged with treasonous espionage.
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Hanning → charge → espionage
His lawyer says he is being "unjustly persecuted" and that the charges are "unfounded".
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charges → say → ?
The latest delay is because a witness, Stephan Hensel's new wife, failed to appear in court.
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witness → fail → court
The Aporia
