Germany Frees, Deports Convicted Russia Spy

German authorities have released a woman convicted of spying for Russia and deported her after she served half of her prison sentence.

Heidrun Anschlag, 48, and her husband Andreas, 53, known only by the fake names on the passports they used to enter Germany, were arrested in 2011.

Andreas was jailed in July 2013 for six and a half years and Heidrun for five and a half years by a court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart.

They were planted in former West Germany from 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later worked for its successor the SVR.

They obtained NATO and EU secrets, focusing particularly on the relationship with Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

Prosecutors agreed to waive the remainder of Heidrun's sentence in view of her deportation. They did not say when the woman was freed or where she was sent.

The woman's husband remains in prison.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP