Germany Probing Leak of Docs on German-US Intel Cooperation to WikiLeaks

The Berlin prosecutor's office is carrying out an investigation into the leaking of confidential government documents on German-US spy agencies cooperation published by the WikiLeaks whistleblowing organization in December 2016, spokesman Martin Steltner told Sputnik Friday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the NDR broadcaster reported that the Berlin prosecutor's office was probing Germany's Bundestag employees over the December leak as they had access to the major part of the leaked documents. The broadcaster noted that the chancellor’s cabinet authorized the move of the Prosecutor’s Office.

"The investigation has not been completed," Steltner said without specifying the content of the investigation.

Steltner noted that the Prosecutor's Office had the specific powers to authorize reviews of this type, on the suspicion of committing a crime.

The review will not necessarily result in building a legal case, Steltner added.

On December 1, 2016, WikiLeaks released 90 gigabytes of information that was part of a German parliamentary inquiry into the surveillance operations of the country’s foreign intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) and its cooperation with the US National Security Agency (NSA).