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Security guards in front of the court in Boston, Massachusetts

Photo: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP

The National Guardsman, allegedly responsible for the leakage of numerous US secret documents, must remain in custody until his trial. A federal judge followed the prosecution's assessment that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira still posed a threat to U.S. national security. Investigators had argued that Teixeira could continue to have access to classified documents, and that "hostile" states could also help him escape in the event of a provisional release. In addition, he had made "violent" statements in the past.

The IT specialist of the US military, Jack Teixeira, is charged with the unauthorized removal, storage and transmission of classified information and information on national defense. He must therefore answer to a court in the US state of Massachusetts.

The public prosecutor's office had demanded that the 21-year-old be detained. He had already been admonished by his superiors in September as well as in October 2022 and instructed not to take any more notes on classified information. The suspect should therefore have been aware that he was violating the law when disseminating the classified information, the argument goes. His behavior was a clear indication that he would not comply with the court's conditions if he were allowed to leave prison.

The judge had to decide whether it could pose a threat to national security to temporarily release Teixeira. "What the documents we have at this stage show that the defendant has violated his promise to protect the information and security of the United States and its allies in a highly competitive manner," US media quoted the judge as saying from the courtroom. It does not seem at all unlikely that a foreign government would make Teixeira an offer to obtain information.

Teixeira is suspected of publishing highly confidential documents from the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense in a closed chat room. From there, they are said to have spread further until authorities and the media became aware of them.

The classified information contained, for example, information on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, but also details of alleged US spying operations against partners. Teixeira was arrested in April. He faces up to 25 years in prison.

kim/dpa/AFP