Robert Hanssen

USA: ROBERT HANSSEN TO REMAIN IN JAIL

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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English/Nat A United States federal judge has ordered that veteran F-B-I agent Robert Philip Hanssen remain in jail, saying she believes the government has an "extraordinarily strong case" against the man accused of spying for Moscow since 1985. In issuing the order in Virginia on Monday, U-S District Judge Theresa Buchanan said 56-year-old Hanssen may "pose a severe risk of flight" because of the nature of the allegations against him, while he could pose a threat to society. During the brief court appearance, the first since his arrest on February 18, Hanssen sat between two of his attorneys, dressed in a green jump suit and plain black tennis shoes. Hanssen sat quietly and spoke only once replying ""I do, your honour" when the judge asked if he knew he was entitled to a full detention hearing. Randy Bellows, an assistant U-S attorney, told the judge that Hanssen poses a "grave danger to the U-S", and because of his background and expertise in counter-intelligence, poses a grave risk of flight. Plato Cacheris, Hanssen's lawyer, said they didn't agree with the facts that Bellows presented, but he said Hanssen wasn't contesting detention. Under a previous agreement between Hanssen's lawyers and prosecutors, a preliminary hearing was postponed until May 21. The agreement calls for Hanssen's lawyers to be able to look at some of the evidence that the government has collected against him. Hanssen, a 25-year veteran F-B-I agent, has been held at an undisclosed detention facility since shortly after his arrest. In advance of his court appearance, Cacheris told reporters on Monday that while no plea was immediately due, his client ultimately would plead not guilty. Cacheris also said he thought there were "a lot of gaps" in the government's case. The U-S government alleges that since 1985 Hanssen has passed to Soviet and later Russian contacts 6-thousand pages of top secret documents. They allegedly contained highly sensitive information about how the United States conducts intelligence operations, which foreign agents it has targetted and technical information about communications and surveillance. U-S newspapers reported over the weekend that Hanssen may have alerted Moscow to a secret tunnel built under the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Incensed by the report, Russia's Foreign Ministry has demanded that the United States provide details. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement suggesting that Moscow was officially unaware of the tunnel's existence. At the U-S State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher refused to confirm or deny the existence of a tunnel. But he did say the Russian Foreign Ministry called in the U-S charge d'affaires in Moscow. Hanssen could get life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. Bellows filed documents last week outlining evidence the government has collected against Hanssen. They included letters to and from the Russian intelligence agency found in Hanssen's briefcase, a statement from his Swiss bank account and recordings of Hanssen's conversations with the Russians. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Today is a brief two minute hearing on detention which at this time we are not contesting." SUPER CAPTION: Plato Cacheris, Hanssen's attorney SOUNDBITE: (English) SUPER CAPTION: Plato Cacheris, Hanssen's attorney SOUNDBITE: (English) "There is no plea today, this is just a detention hearing. But he will plead not guilty at the appropriate time." SUPER CAPTION: Plato Cacheris, Hanssen's attorney SOUNDBITE: (English) SUPER CAPTION: Richard Boucher, US State Department spokesman You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6a216abc2e126cb7299a900712346c26 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork