Former spy chief sentenced to prison for betrayal of professional secrets

Former spy chief sentenced to prison for betrayal of professional secrets

Copenhagen - Denmark's former intelligence chief Jakob Scharf was sentenced on Friday to four months in prison for having betrayed professional secrets in his memoir.

He revealed confidential information 24 times in the book, in particular regarding the operations of Danish General Intelligence (PET) and the agency's methods of working, a Copenhagen court said in its judgement seen by AFP.

The judges noted that the revelations in "Seven Years at PET: the Era of Jakob Scharf" were done for commercial reasons.

Scharf, 52, was the head of PET from 2007 to 2013 at a time when Denmark was the target of attacks following the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

The book was written with a journalist from Denmark's newspaper of record, Politiken, which in October 2016 published the memoir to protest against censorship, after authorities had banned the book from being sold.

The paper's editor-in-chief in January was fined 50,000 kroner (6,700 euros) for having defied the ban. - APP/AFP