Lars Findsen

Lars Johan Findsen
Lars Findsen in 2015 at a press conference in Norway.
Born (1964-09-17) September 17, 1964 (age 59)
England[1]
NationalityDanish
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen (Cand. jur.)
OccupationCivil servant
Employer(s)Datatilsynet (1990-1993), Ministry of Justice (1993-2002), Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (2002-2007), Ministry of Defence (2007-2015) and Danish Defense Intelligence Service (2015-2020 (suspended))
HonoursKnight of the Order of Dannebrog (2003)

Lars Johan Findsen (born 17 September 1964[2]) is a Danish jurist and former civil servant who served as chief of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) from 2015 to 2020 when he was relieved of duty due to concerns from the regulatory body of the DDIS.

In December 2021, it surfaced that Findsen, along with three other employees of the DDIS and PET, had been arrested and remained in custody on charges of leaking classified information.[3] Findsen was released from custody in February 2022 after a judge ruling,[4] though the Prosecution Service has continued with the case and formally accused Findsen in September 2022.[5] Findsen has denied that he is guilty.[6][7]

On 1 November 2023 the prosecution dropped their charges against Findsen, along with similar charges against Claus Hjort Frederiksen.[8]

  1. ^ "Altinget - Alt om politik: altinget.dk". www.altinget.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  2. ^ "Chefen for FE". Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  3. ^ "To fængslet i hemmeligt grundlovsforhør: Medarbejdere anholdt for lækager fra FE og PET". DR (in Danish). 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  4. ^ "Landsret går imod byretten: Fængslet FE-chef løslades". DR (in Danish). 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  5. ^ "Tidligere FE-chef Lars Findsen er blevet tiltalt". DR (in Danish). 2022-09-16. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Lars Findsen forsvarer samtaler med journalister under hjemsendelse". DR (in Danish). 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  8. ^ Abrahamsen, Jeppe Dong (2023-11-01). "Alle sager i spionskandalen droppes" [All cases in spy scandal dropped]. politiken.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-11-01.