‘It’s so patently absurd’: family of Ulm 5 direct actionist demand government observer

The family of an Irish activist on trial in Germany are calling on government to send an observer to the ongoing case in Stuttgart – and say he’s being denied his right to a fair trial. 

Protesters gathered outside the Goethe Institute in Dublin today and solidarity demos took place in Germany and London for Ulm 5 direct actionist Daniel Tatlow-Devally.

Daniel has been in custody in Germany since September last year when he and four others occupied an Elbit Systems Deutschland premises in protest against the genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to figures published by Al-Jazeera. 

Denied bail and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day

Despite engaging in non-violent protest, Germany authorities have charged the Ulm 5 with being members of a criminal organisation.

They’ve been denied bail and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in Ulm prison.

“It’s been 11 months now. I don’t understand how this accords with the presumption of innocence – solitary confinement for in essence trespass and property damage,” said Daniel’s mother, Mimi, speaking to The Ditch ahead of the protest this evening.  

The group, who are also charged with trespassing and criminal damage, are being denied the right to a fair trial and to speak with their legal representatives, she said. 

“In the courtroom the five are behind glass, can’t easily communicate with their lawyers and are brought in handcuffs – which essentially means that the five are being punished by the process rather than that the process determining whether or not they’re innocent or guilty,” said Daniel’s sister, Clara Tatlow-Devally, also speaking withThe Ditch. 

There is no transcript of the trial – only the judge's own notes, Clara says. Repeated requests from defence for someone to take notes were refused. 

“If the defence requests a note-taker, usually that is an acceptable tool,” Clara said. “The judge has declined every single time the defence has requested this." 

That’s one of the reasons the family is demanding an official observer from government. 

Last month seven Irish politicians including Richard Boyd Barrett, Mairéad Farrell and Barry Ward travelled to Germany to observe the trial. At a press conference afterwards they expressed concern about the treatment of Daniel and the other actionists. 

“I do have difficulty with what I saw as being far short of the minimum standards we expect for fair trials,” Ward said, as reported by The Journal.  “He’s in such an oppressive regime and there doesn’t appear to be any objective basis for that.” 

Those who attended as observers weren’t allowed to take notes – a ruling the judge did not issue until two days after the delegation had already returned to Dublin on the basis that they were "no different to any other member of the public”.

The trial was originally scheduled to finish last month. 

But in May the judge added an additional 44 dates, meaning it won’t be over until January 2027 at which Daniel and the other actionists will have been in custody for 17 months. 

Today's hearing is the first since a two-and-a-half-week break and the first of the new dates added in May. 

“It is so patently absurd that you can only see it as an abuse of process,” Mimi said, noting that the Ulm 5 don’t deny what they’re accused of and in fact filmed it – but they are still being treated under Section 129 of German law as members of a crime gang. 

“It's completely normal in Germany for people accused of much more serious crimes than the five are to sit with their lawyers at a desk and have them on the trial. So there's a political purpose in what Germany is doing here. If the government won’t listen to us, they should listen to their own backbencher.”

The family are asking members of the public to sign a petition calling on government to send an observer to the trial and to support their costs of travelling to and living in Stuttgart across the trial's 44 remaining dates through a GoFundMe.