01x06 - Mediespion

[bunniefuu]

- Hello?
- Hello.

I'm just calling because there are
a few things I'd like to clarify.

Don't broadcast any programs
without my consent.

Because if that happens, it's an open w*r.

We would like to involve you, but that's not possible
if you don't want to talk to us.

It's different
to arrange an ambush, -

- as you intend to do to me.

You're exposing me and talking about things.

There are so many theories about what I am.

That I've been a spy
in the media industry and I don't know what.

That's out of the question.

That sounds completely crazy.
Sorry for saying so.

I've never heard anything about that.

Well, that's just part of it.

- You're good at laundering black money.
- Yes, among other things.

- Do you work for large parts of the underworld?
- Yes, for all of them.

What if I can commit fraud with 10,000 tons of soil.

- They want to cheat a lot.
- "Køge-Calle" is charged with money laundering.

The police have seized several million.

- I have a system that no one else has.
- I asked for all the invoices for money laundering.

- Martin Malm has been declared bankrupt.
- He has been reported for corona fraud.

I'm so tired of your nonsense!
Next time, you'll know what I'm asking about.

Fasar is charged with fraud
and violence and threats against several people.

I'll f*ck your mother.

I won't survive unless I do something.

- I'll crush you!
- I'm as shocked as the rest of Denmark.

My advisor has helped me
when the money laundering team came knocking.

Lawyer Lise Roulund is
charged with money laundering.

The government will go to great lengths
to stop this systematic fraud.

I'm not doing anything about it.

He should lose his license to practice law.

I'm fighting not to fall back into the role,
because we can make a lot of money.

- I was contacted by the Danish FBI.
- What did they want from the meeting?

- Information.
- We need to talk about this one.

- It's just ten thousand missing.
- I didn't take them.

- She is deeply involved in crime.
- Smajic has gone underground.

She feels betrayed and left in the lurch.
She has no income.

Smajic cooperated with the police.
TV 2 didn't report that.

Show it, and find out what happens.
It's over.

We are documenting this
editorial meeting because we want -

- the public to have an
insight into what we are struggling with.

When we started the collaboration with Smajic, -

- she requested that her cooperation with the police
not be part of the TV series.

It is not entirely clear
whether that should be revealed.

Then we'll wait until it's clarified.

Amira Smajic would be in greater danger
if it was revealed that she was an informant.

That was our opinion,
and that was Amira Smajic's opinion.

Therefore, we agreed not to mention it.

We have kept that agreement until now.

Now it is common knowledge
that she has been a police informant.

The information has ended up in the press,
partly because of Amira Smajic herself.

That means we can tell
that we have been carrying a dark secret.

In these folders and on this hard drive,
there is documentation -

- that shows that there is something seriously wrong -

- with what is perhaps the most important
thing society is built on, namely the rule of law.

Norwegian subtitles: Liv Kari Waage

The secret concerns what happens
behind the scenes in the fight against crime.

About the birds who chirp
about the underworld they themselves are a part of:

The police's secret informants.

We have always known
that Amira was one of them.

But it was only after she withdrew
that we made an interesting discovery.

Look closely at the picture.
Diagonally across from Amira is a notebook.

It belongs to a journalist.

What happens with the notebook
raises a question -

- we need outside help to answer.

What did the police actually
use Amira for?

I'll tell you who you are.
Your name is Stiig Wæver.

You have a private security company,
but you worked for the police for many years.

I was hired by the police in 1988.
From 1991-1993, I was in the Christiania group.

You have been in the criminal investigation department
and have worked with organized crime.

Drug crime, arms smuggling and other things
that fall under organized crime.

From 2007, you were in the
Police Intelligence Service.

I was there until 2014,
when I left the police.

- Have you dealt with informants?
- Yes, throughout most of my career.

Have you been what is
popularly called a handler?

- So, someone who handles an informant?
- Yes.

Can you say anything about
what you have done for the intelligence service?

No.

OK, Stiig.

Here I have two folders that document
part of Smajic's cooperation with the police.

We are going to delve into those
here in our little study circle.

Both folders contain messages
between Smajic and her handlers in the police.

In one folder, there are
messages she would like to show us.

Then there is the other folder.

It contains messages from a phone
Smajic allowed us to extract content from.

But she probably didn't
know what was on it.

We'll start with the first folder,
with what Amira Smajic would like to show us.

M1 and M2 are the handlers.

Amira Smajic is A.
Sometimes she goes by the codename P.

- OK.
- According to her, "P" stands for Pandora.

Handler M1 writes:
"P! Can you meet on Tuesday at 10 AM?"

"Coffee, double shot."

We have verified the material,
which consists of 2,072 messages.

The messages have been exchanged
via an encrypted service.

They show
Amira's secret cooperation with the police.

The cooperation is said to have started
with a meeting in a hotel room.

I was contacted by NSK, the Danish FBI.

They thought I should talk to them
and invited me to a meeting in a hotel room.

- What do the police want from this meeting?
- What the police always want, information.

- When was this?
- It must have been in 2020.

In December 2020, the chat between
Amira and her handlers is created.

Here you go, Stiig.
Just take your time to read it.

In the first messages,
they are looking for common acquaintances.

- Do you know these people from Bandidos?
- No, unfortunately.

- Cool enough.
- Yes, sometimes.

The handlers mention
several people from the police's criminal records.

People they hope
she can provide information about.

Let us introduce... Has a thing for
exotic girls and protein-rich food.

Goes for short walks with his short legs
and relaxes with heavy metal music.

He's in Bandidos and batshit crazy.
Even the Bandidos are afraid of him.

Let's introduce number 2 on the Tinder list.

Let's introduce the third Tinder date.

In the beginning, it's unclear which
investigations Amira is helping the police with.

There is information about money and weapons.

Getting weapons because he feels unsafe.

OK, I'll look at him tomorrow.
Shall we meet on Tuesday?

- Yes, and no coke.
- No, this time you'll get water.

It shows how they communicate.

Do you know what "no coke" means?
Is she writing that because she doesn't like coke?

I simply don't know that.

The communication is characterized
by a relatively open dialogue.

Information goes back and forth a lot.

When you go through the threads,
it seems to be getting results.

Here you can see, for example,
that Amira has provided information -

- which has apparently led
to the arrest of several people.

I'm looking forward to hearing who has been arrested.

It's good to close a case
due to fantastic information.

This emphasizes that she is a source
who has access to important information.

Usually, police sources
run dry over time.

You get to investigate what they know,
and then it kind of dies out eventually.

But it seems like she is
an eternal source of information sharing.

The next year, there are no signs
that Amira is running out of information.

They have almost daily contact,
and there are regular meetings with the handlers.

At the same time, Amira starts a collaboration with us.

She is to expose the connections
between the underworld and the upper world.

We have mentioned the messages
between Amira and her handlers, -

- where she provides information about criminals.
Let's look at the other folder.

There are messages there
that Amira Smajic probably doesn't know we have.

I want to start by showing you a picture
that Amira Smajic took of Yaqoub Ali.

He is a former Islamist.

At the beginning of the collaboration,
Amira is often at the production company -

- that is behind "The Black Swan".

She can keep an eye on things
when other guests show up -

- for podcast recordings
and other journalistic work.

This is something she involves her handlers in.

The jihadist from behind.
Has a tattoo on his right forearm.

- Thanks. Take care.
- Yep. Sitting and talking on the phone.

Ha-ha.
But update us if you pick up anything.

- Yep. Send the pictures to our new friends.
- Sure.

Yaqoub Ali, called "the jihadist" by Amira,
was a prominent Islamist.

He was a spokesman for
the extremist group The Call to Islam.

But now he has left his old environment
and works on preventing radicalization.

It's not something that happens overnight.
It's a radicalization process that takes place.

Some pictures of you appear
that Amira has sent to the police.

Do you know about that?

I know a little.
She said I was lying and was still an Islamist.

That I hadn't left
The Call to Islam after all.

But I also know that when
they get the information about me, -

- they are told from above
that they are not to touch me.

What's it like to hear
that you've been monitored in this way?

I can say that I don't care,
but it also concerns other people.

I'm not the only one she's taken a picture of.

It's not very pleasant.

The exchange of pictures
from the production company is mysterious.

It seems completely random who
is being photographed by Amira.

Another former officer for the podcast.
I just wanted to say.

It's unclear.

OK. Yes, it's difficult.
Take a selfie with him tomorrow.

It's a very detailed surveillance,
photography, and communication -

- around what is happening
in a setting that was supposed to be confidential.

It's worrying that they don't send
a message saying they're not interested.

The special thing about this story is
that we are involved in it.

Our workplace suddenly gets
mentioned in Amira's conversations with the police.

This is completely new, and we need an assessment
from someone who knows about the use of informants.

It's unique.
I've never encountered anything like it.

The source is involved in financial crime,
and this is completely outside of that.

How should one understand this?

What interest do the police have in this?
It has a bit of a Stasi feel to it.

The East German surveillance police.
Stasi collected information on everyone.

It doesn't seem like they had any inhibitions
or limits on their information gathering.

I find this a bit strange.

The correspondence is being examined
by one of the Nordic region's leading experts.

For years, he has
investigated the police's secret methods.

Professor Paul Larsson is a researcher
and lecturer at the Police University College.

These are methods one uses
when nothing else works.

It's the last resort.

The best informants are those who are deepest
into crime and criminal environments.

For the police, it's ideal if the person provides
information that can be used in criminal cases.

For the informant, it's a bit different.
They usually want something out of it for themselves.

Amira Smajic sends more pictures
from the inner world of the production company.

This is an example of the handlers
not being content with just acknowledging the pictures.

It's about a person called "T".
Here, the handlers are far more active.

- Is there anything new about the deal with T?
- No, not yet. I met him yesterday.

"T" is terrorism researcher Tore Hamming, formerly
employed by the Police Intelligence Service.

- When was the last time you spoke to someone from Al-Qaeda?
- Half an hour ago.

Tore Hamming is a recognized terrorism researcher,
but he also works on a podcast.

He conducts journalistic activities
on behalf of Frihedsbrevet, -

- where I am the editor-in-chief.

It is unclear what the interest is due to.

But it seems Amira has said
that he is coming out with a new book.

Good morning.

We would like to know more about Tore
and possibly about his book, if you know.

Handler M2 writes that she can
send a picture of his bag.

While we wait for a reply, you are welcome to find
his phone, email, and a picture of his bag.

Tore's bag.

He uses Google Docs.

With that email,
he has also scanned his book.

We are dealing with an independent researcher.

I would have reacted strongly to that if
someone had snooped through my things like that.

Based on your knowledge of police work, what
would the police want with a picture of his bag?

I don't have enough imagination
to think of anything other than -

- that they are interested in getting into
that bag and doing something in there.

Why else would one
want a picture of it?

Didn't he have a ProtonMail?

- Yes, indeed.
- Then you have everything.

- You can see Tore's jacket and notebook in the picture.
- Great.

Now we are at the point where they are asking her
to actively take part in some investigative steps, -

- which she, as a source, should not do.

It's a process where you no longer
have control over yourself or the source.

Sharing photos and information
from the newsroom raises many questions.

We will ask
Amira about this when the time is right.

But since she demanded
that "The Black Swan" not be broadcast, -

- the dialogue has been difficult.

Without my approval, no
program will be shown on TV 2.

Then it's an open w*r.

Today, we know little about what she is up to.

But "The Black Swan" has had
major consequences for her.

She is said to have gone underground
and feels betrayed by TV 2.

She has sacrificed a lot
and feels left in the lurch.

She can't imagine a future.
She always has to look over her shoulder.

Amira's security situation also played a role
when she was charged in a criminal case.

She did not appear in court,
but gave her testimony from a secret location.

She got one and a half years,
but most of it was suspended.

She was convicted of document forgery, embezzlement,
and gross fraud for a total of 1.8 million.

Most of the criminal acts
were committed by Amira before her cooperation with the police.

The cooperation turned out to be about more than
information about the criminal underworld.

Now the plot is thickening.

This is a member of the editorial team,
Thomas Østerlin Koch.

She has sent it to her handlers.

If you can ask her to meet me...
I would very much like to meet her.

The picture of my colleague was taken in the newsroom,
where we spend a lot of time with Amira.

We are in an early phase of the project,
where we are planning her role as a mole.

None of us notice that
Amira is pointing the camera at my colleague.

She shares information about
what is going on in the newsroom, -

- and that the newsroom is meeting with sources.

- Do you get the name?
- Trying. But the thing with... is certain.

I have seen their correspondence.

By "name" is meant
the names of the journalist's sources.

The picture of my colleague
reading his notebook makes no sense.

We don't know if the picture is on the agenda
the next day when Amira meets her handlers.

But when she is back in the newsroom,
she gets her camera out again.

She takes a picture of
the entire journalist's notebook -

- and sends it to her handlers.

The collaboration with Amira was based on trust.
We made the same mistake -

- as the Bandidos member
Fasar Abrar Raja did.

There he is.

When Fasar one day left the papers out,
Amira was quick with her camera.

That was useful for us, because we exposed
environmental fraud with hazardous construction waste.

Only much later did we discover that Amira
had used the same method against us, -

- when our notebook was left out in the newsroom.

The journalists' notes
after meetings with Tore and a new officer.

Stupid to leave the notebook there.

Yes, but he writes in
a foreign or extraterrestrial language.

- What a scrawl!
- Ha-ha.
Det må dere jobbe med å tyde.

sh*t, it's hard!
But it seems to go
all the way back to their first meeting.

Unfortunately, no name of the officer.

"He writes in an extraterrestrial language.
What a scrawl!"

The handler has tried
to read what is written in the notes.

That should make the investigators pause.

Now you have a direct insight into a journalist's
notebooks concerning their network of sources.

- What would you have done as a handler?
- Said that this was not of interest to us.

And then I would have
asked for it to be deleted.

You are deep inside a room
where the police should not be.

It would require a
court order to gain access to this.

A judge who gives permission to
get insight into a journalist's diary, -

- I find that hard to imagine.

To get wiser on the matter, we need to expand
the circle of eyes that will look at the material.

We seek out an experienced person who knows
about law, and who has the credentials in order.

That it happens with the police's knowledge is gross.
I don't know about her.

But when the police say it's a good idea,
we're moving towards abuse of office.

Torben Goldin is
a prominent figure in the legal field.

With his 40 years in the judiciary,
he has been a judge and a court leader -

- and has been at the core of the justice system.

He was part of the legal assessment of
one of Denmark's biggest political scandals:

The Tamil case.
The then prime
minister had to resign.

He is speaking on the condition that
he has not verified our material.

How do you view the handlers'
reaction to this with the notebook?

If it has happened this way,
it is at least morally wrong.

I'm not sure if it's theft.

But of course, it's not good practice,
unless there is a court order.

How would they have gotten the order?

Then they would have had to suspect
that the journalist had done something ill*gal.

But such permissions are granted
to a very limited extent.

And towards journalists, when there is no
concrete suspicion of criminal activity, -

- it would be very difficult.

"Interesting enough."

It seems like they are
interested in what you are doing.

I don't know if the police
have requested this.

I would assume that
when they brought her in as an informant, -

- that her job was not
to obtain information -

- about journalists and that sort of thing.

This seems well outside of what
should be her area of activity.

You are dealing with a special informant.
It seems she takes a lot of control herself.

There is an interesting detail
in what Amira writes about the notebook, -

- namely that it contains
notes from a meeting with a new officer.

Because the notebook doesn't.

Thus, we are investigating
other information Amira has given the police.

For example, the picture of a figure
at the production company's office.

Another former officer for the podcast.
I just wanted to say.

We contact the journalist
who was recording a podcast at that time.

I have never made a podcast
with current or former police officers.

Do you have any idea
who is in the picture?

It's hard to see,
but I can see that it's my jacket.

That's my bag and
the hairstyle I had at the time.

And I'm sure
I was there that very day.

When I look at that picture,
I would say that it looks like me.

- Someone has gone completely off the rails.
- They have been made a fool of, yes.

What if we imagine,
purely theoretically, that all this has happened -

- because Amira Smajic has
pulled the wool over the police's eyes, -

- and that they have let themselves be fooled?

Yes, but that's no excuse.

If that's the case here, there are
plenty of opportunities to get back on track.

They can stop the cooperation
and limit the damage.

It seems that the continuous access
to the material she provides is being used.

I suspect she has managed to talk her way
further into their good graces than she should have been.

Amira also tells her handlers that she has
found investigative material at our office.

She describes it as
interrogation reports and charges.

This has, of course,
caught the interest of the handlers.

But it didn't exist,
but something else did.

Get out your reading glasses, Stiig.
Now it's getting even more complicated.

It's about this hard drive.

It belongs to a member of the editorial team
behind "The Black Swan", Steen Schat-Holm.

It's a hard drive
that contains 194,000 files.

The hard drive contained confidential material.
One day it was on the table -

- where the editorial team was sitting with Amira
at the beginning of the project.

Here Amira Smajic sends a picture of
her copying the contents of the hard drive.

- Ha-ha.
- What did they think when they invited me in?

At least they haven't listened to...
Is it any good?

It is careless to leave the hard drive
near Amira Smajic.

She writes to her handlers:
"What did they think when they invited me in?"

Later they write that they will
pick her up at a quarter past nine in the morning.

They are going to go through the hard drive.
It doesn't say that it's our hard drive.

But no other hard drives
have been mentioned in the messages.

- The focus will be on the hard drive review.
- Let's see where that leads.

Ha-ha, yes.
But it's simple.

The coffee will be served, you will be picked up and driven.
You just have to bring the hard drive.

An ill*gal break-in has been committed here.

I cannot see that the handlers from NSK
have the authority to pursue this lead.

What is Amira actually doing here?

Is it a kind of search of her own company?

I'm doubtful as to how
one could get such a warrant.

The coffee will be served, you will be picked up and driven.
You just have to bring the hard drive.

- Have you ever heard of anything like this?
- Never.

I've probably missed a lot,
but I'm glad I've never heard of it before.

Never.

But is it realistic with
a court order where Amira...?

- No.
- Where she was supposed to copy it?

Definitely not.

Just to finish this with the hard drive.

The next day, handler M1 sends, -

- who was not part of
the review of the hard drive, a message.

I hear you were good today.
Good job, P.

"Good work"?

I only have one association with that,
and it's a kind of bad culture.

He has no qualms about
how they got the information.

And she gets praise for it too.

Here it's a pat on the back,
"super" and "good girl".

Legally, it must be
a computer break-in, i.e., theft.

That's just wrong.

It's data theft,
which the police obviously approve of.

They are clearly interested in
and are making use of the theft.

Whether it's theft or
receiving stolen goods doesn't matter.

Simply sick.

You cannot use ill*gal means in
an investigation without permission from the court.

We must assume that they have not received that.

When it is done, you will afterwards be notified
by the police that an intervention has taken place.

The court or the police haven't notified you that
a copy of your hard drive has been taken, have they?

No.

The whole way it's done is
simply strange police work.

How do you think they should have reacted?

They should have said that she was not allowed to do it
and had to delete it and get rid of it.

The press is a fourth estate.

It is supposed to keep the other estates in check.

One should not commit abuse against the press
by stealing their information.

The press has many sources,
and if the sources suddenly discover -

- that they can't speak to you in confidence,
your role as society's watchdog is undermined.

That must not happen.

The expression "a black swan"
describes the unexpected.

Something you don't see coming,
and that changes what you thought you knew.

A black swan is unpredictable.

If you try to predict its next move,
you can be sure you'll guess wrong.

Not to be a Monday-morning quarterback,
but don't leave your hard drive with a criminal.

We won't do that again.

That Amira has given the police information
is a fact.

It's rare for someone to give something away
without getting something in return.

There is usually a price to be paid.

- That's not so good.
- No, that's not so good.

To put it mildly.

And if it starts like this,
I can imagine how it will end.

So far, we have talked about
what Amira Smajic has done for the police.

Now it's about
what the police have done for Amira Smajic.

It emerges that Amira Smajic is being used
to spy on the media, TV 2, Frihedsbrevet, -

- on journalists and
on the journalists' guests and sources.

What is going on?

I cannot address
the specific allegations.

We usually keep this with sources secret.

We cannot confirm or deny
that there is a source relationship.

In general, I can say that what we in the police
are interested in is crime.

So if by espionage you mean that the police are
particularly interested in the media's work -

- or that we use sources to
follow journalists' editorial work, -

- then I can deny that.

But how do you explain that this picture,
which Amira Smajic took -

- of the bag of an employee at Frihedsbrevet,
was something the handlers were interested in?

I do not address the
assumptions inherent in that picture.

She takes a picture of the entire notebook
and sends it to her handler.

What has happened to that information?

I do not address the
assumptions in your story.

Assumptions sounds vague,
but this is very concrete.

Here, Amira Smajic commits a data breach.

She copies a TV 2 journalist's hard drive.

She meets her handlers to review
the hard drive. Afterwards, she is praised.

- That is undoubtedly a criminal offense.
- I have the same answer there.

I am here to paint, -

- with the few means I have,
a picture that is more correct.

Are you telling me and the viewers
that no mistakes have been made here?

No, I'm saying that you can trust
that we manage that area professionally.

We stay within the rules of the game.
If we make mistakes, we follow up on them.

Excuse me, but when you
look at our documentation, -

- one gets the impression that
there are no rules of the game.

A Norwegian expert talks about
it being a matter of a bad culture.

There are clear rules
that we adhere to.

The chat communication
between Amira Smajic and her handlers ends -

- around the time our office
opens in Frederiksberg.

There we are filming "The Black Swan".

Has NSK been involved behind the scenes there?

I cannot comment on the
allegations in your story.

But I can say in general
that the police do not have -

- any particular interest in the media's work.

We do not spy
on journalists' editorial work.

- Hello?
- Can you see us?
We're on the main road.

OK, I'm coming.

Sit here.
We are gathered again.

I am a special prosecutor for NSK.
What are you actually looking for?

- They are trying to sweep it under the rug.
- It's an interrogation.

- That's a criminal offense.
- We are approaching a miscarriage of justice.

What's on the audio file will be made public.