A wealthy heiress is in the dock in Hamburg in a case that has gripped Germany and triggered what is described as the country’s biggest espionage scandal in recent history. Christina Block, 53, heir to a popular chain of steakhouses, is accused of ordering an Israeli security firm to carry out the violent abduction of her children from Denmark during a bitter custody battle with her former husband.
The case has also reached into the intelligence community. Investigators stumbled across evidence that led to the arrest this month of Germany’s former intelligence chief, August Hanning, on charges of treason and espionage. Hanning’s case is separate from the Hamburg trial, although he has denied allegations that he was involved in an earlier attempt to abduct the children.
Prosecutors allege a New Year abduction in Denmark
Prosecutors allege that Block and a family lawyer, Andreas Costard, organised the forcible removal of two of her children from the home of her former husband, Stephan Hensel, in Denmark. They say the operation was carried out by a 36-year-old Israeli citizen, named only as Jonathan G, and five others.
According to the indictment, the abduction took place during the New Year celebrations of 2023-24, while the two children and their father were watching a firework display. Prosecutors say several men ambushed and beat Hensel, then dragged the boy and the girl, who were 10 and 13 at the time, into a car.
Near the German border, the group allegedly switched vehicles, taped up the children’s mouths and tied the girl’s hands. Prosecutors say they then travelled on to Baden-Württemberg in a campervan, where the children were held against their will until their mother collected them on 2 January 2024 and took them to her home in Hamburg.
Block, Costard and Jonathan G are charged with abduction of minors, grievous bodily harm and unlawful detention. Block’s partner, former TV sports presenter Gerhard Delling, and three others are charged with aiding and abetting. All of them deny wrongdoing except Jonathan G, who has admitted his involvement, although he told the court he believed he was taking part in a rescue operation.
A custody dispute that ran for years
The trial follows years of legal battles between Block and Hensel over who should care for the children. After the couple separated, all four children initially lived with their mother in Hamburg. Hensel, who has since remarried, later moved to Denmark, and the children regularly visited him there.
In 2021, the two younger children travelled to Denmark to visit their father but were not returned to Hamburg as agreed. A court in Hamburg ruled that Christina had custody and that the children should be sent back. In February 2023, however, a Danish court found that the boy and girl had been taken to Denmark unlawfully but ruled that they could not be returned.
In May 2023, Hensel was charged with abducting minors, a case that is still pending. He has accused Block of being violent towards the children, a charge she denies. She told the court that Hensel wanted to take revenge on her.
Block’s denial and testimony from the security chief
Block denies knowing anything about plans to take the children from Denmark. Her defence argues that the Israeli security team acted on its own initiative. She told the court the operation was “a catastrophe” and said she had never wanted anything like it.
David Barkay, the head of the Israeli security team, is not on trial but faces future legal proceedings. He told the court that Block and Costard had known about the planned operation to bring the children back. Barkay, who another witness described as a former agent with Mossad, the Israeli secret service, said he had not shared every detail because he “didn’t trust them”.
Hanning’s arrest and a two-week pause in the trial
The alleged link to Hanning concerns an earlier attempt, in 2022, to abduct the children and bring them back from Denmark. Prosecutors have said Hanning was responsible for arranging security staff who were sent to Denmark with Block. His lawyer denies the accusations, and Hanning has not been charged in the current Block case.
While investigators were searching his home, they found evidence suggesting Hanning had been involved in buying around 2,000 documents from his former chief of staff and then passing state secrets on to foreign powers. The country or person he is alleged to have given the secrets to has not been specified, though it has prompted wide speculation. Now 80, Hanning is in custody on charges of treasonous espionage. His lawyer says he is being “unjustly persecuted” and that the charges are “unfounded”.
The Block trial is currently on hold for two weeks, the latest in a series of delays and extensions over the past 15 months. The pause was triggered when a witness, Hensel’s new wife, failed to appear in court.
