MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Die Zeit newspaper reported, citing a German intelligence official, that the BND had deleted NSA selector lists "by mistake," despite an order not to do so imposed by an investigative parliamentary commission.
According to the BND official, e-mail messages that contained the lists of the NSA targets, "were accidentally erased."
"It has never been more obvious that the BND is in strong partnership with NSA, and it is a real enemy from the inside for the Germans’ authority and safety. As in military base Ramstein, we are not a classical ally, we are just used for the interest of the USA," Kramm said.
The chairman of the German Pirate Party in Baden-Württemberg state claims that BND's illegal sharing of data with its US colleagues demonstrates that the country's spy organizations have gone beyond parliamentary control.
"This illegal behavior of BND demonstrates once more how completely inadequate parliamentary control over intelligence agencies in Germany is. Statements by the agency that this very precise loss of data happened accidentally are not plausible at all and sound like a plain lie," Martin Eitzenberger told Sputnik.
Eitzenberger explained that BND deleted the targets lists "in a poor attempt" to cover up aspects of their illegal surveillance and data exchange with foreign intelligence services, and the NSA in particular.
"At this point it is safe to assume that at least parts of the German intelligence agencies are literally out of control and do not work in accordance with the law. Responsibility for this rests not only with the leaders of the agencies but also with the German government, which looks pretty helpless when dealing with them," Eitzenberger said.
He cited the example of the intelligence scandal in Germany in 2011, when it was revealed that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution employees had connections to the National Socialist Underground (NSU) far-right terrorist group, which conducted a series of murders in the country. Shortly after the revelation in November 2011, employees of the agency destroyed files that contained evidence of their role in the murders.
"In light of the recent intelligence scandals in Germany, like the systematic malpractice of the domestic security agency Verfassungsschutz [The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution] ("NSU" affair), a dramatic change in security policy is necessary," Eitzenberger said.
Earlier this year, German media revealed that the NSA has been using BND's Bad Aibling listening post in southern Bavaria to spy on European targets, including political figures and corporations. A German parliamentary commission initiated an investigation into the case and called on the government to reveal the full list of so-called selectors, but it has not received them.
When the commission was created, the sides agreed to a moratorium on the removal of the NSA selector lists to prevent evidence from being destroyed.
