A closely watched trial of five anti-occupation activists charged with damaging a site owned by Israel’s largest arms producer Elbit Systems in southern Germany has been delayed at the eleventh hour, after a disagreement over the defendants being isolated behind solid glass barriers that blocked confidential access to their legal teams.
Dubbed the “Ulm Five” by supporters, the group stands accused of breaking into Elbit’s Ulm facility on September 8, 2025. Prosecutors allege the activists smashed a glass entrance to the site and destroyed on-site office equipment including desktop computers, display screens and communication devices. All five were taken into custody immediately after the incident, and have been held in separate pre-trial detention facilities across the southern German region ever since.
The opening hearing was scheduled to kick off on the morning of the as-yet-undisclosed court date, but the proceeding ground to a halt before it could even get underway after defense teams raised formal objections to the seating arrangement. Images and accounts shared to the activist group’s official social media channels show that when lawyers arrived in the courtroom at the Stuttgart Correctional Facility, more commonly known as Stammheim Prison, they found their clients locked behind sealed glass partitions that cut off direct physical and private contact.
Initial reports indicate defense teams first formally protested the unusual arrangement, but attempts to reach a compromise between legal representatives and the presiding judge fell through. No agreement could be reached on allowing the defendants to leave the glass enclosures to sit near their legal teams, and the judge ultimately made the call to postpone the entire hearing. A new opening session is now scheduled to take place next Monday, according to an official statement from the activists’ camp.
The choice of Stammheim Prison as the venue for the trial has already drawn attention, given the site’s notorious history: it hosted the high-profile 1970s trial of members of the far-left Red Army Faction, a militant group labeled a terrorist organization by German authorities that carried out more than 30 killings over the course of its campaign.
Beyond basic charges of trespassing and property damage, the five activists also face a far more serious allegation under Section 129 of the German penal code: membership in a criminal organization, specifically the German wing of Palestine Action, a protest group that opposes Israeli arms trade and occupation of Palestinian territory. This particular legal provision is most frequently used to prosecute cases linked to terrorism and organized crime, and a conviction on this count can carry a maximum prison sentence of up to five years.
Cage International, a London-based advocacy organization that documents security and human rights issues, has found that Elbit Systems supplies roughly 86 percent of all weapons and surveillance technology used by the Israeli military in its operations in the Gaza Strip. In a public statement published on their official website, the Ulm Five pushed back against the charges, defending their actions as a moral stand against complicity in occupation.
“We will not become complicit or resign ourselves to a system in which every available means is used to legitimize colonialism and occupation — and the unimaginable suffering they cause,” the statement reads. “It is our duty to put a stop to this and disrupt it until the truth comes to light and justice prevails.”
Legal representatives for the group have also raised alarm over the conditions of the activists’ pre-trial detention, noting that the five have already been held in custody for more than seven months — exceeding the six-month maximum limit for pre-trial detention permitted under German law. The detainees include Daniel Tatlow-Devally from Ireland, Zo Hailu and Crow Tricks from the United Kingdom, Vi Kovarbasic from Germany, and Leandra Rollo, a Spanish-Argentine national.
“The clients have been kept in custody for over seven months now, which effectively amounts to punishment without a final conviction,” defense attorney Nina Oner explained in a recent interview. Multiple reports from independent outlet Middle East Eye have detailed that the five are being held in extreme isolation, with strict constant monitoring that severely limits contact with friends and family. All incoming mail is read by authorities before it reaches the detainees, and all non-legal conversations are supervised and recorded by police.