German prosecutors file espionage charges against man accused of spying on exiles for Syria

BERLIN – German prosecutors have filed espionage charges against a man accused of spying on exiled dissidents for Syrian intelligence.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that the 59-year-old, a German-Syrian dual national identified only as Hassan A. in line with German privacy rules, is accused of spying on Syrian opposition supporters in Berlin from November 2011 to February 2012.

They say he reported several times every month to a Syrian man, Akram O., who was convicted of spying last December and sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Prosecutors earlier this year charged another suspect, a Lebanese-German dual national, with spying for the convicted agent on exiled dissidents.