On Friday, 24th April – just 3 days before the beginning of the Ulm 5 trial – families, friends and lovers released a press statement addressing antisemitism accusations against their children and loved ones. On the same day the team of 10 lawyers also released a press release addressing the problematic venue where this show trial will take place, the disproportionate pre-trial detention and the failings of the prosecution office to investigate the real criminals. Both statements are published in full below.
On Monday 27th April the show trial against the Ulm 5 begins. The stage is the infamous Stammheim court house and high security prison, known for being where the trials against RAF members were held in the 1970s. The main actors are the representatives of the German state – a state currently on trial in the ICJ for its complicity with the genocide of the Palestinian people, the 10-lawyers defence team and the human rights activists Crow, Vi, Leandra, Daniel and Zo. The backdrop of the show trial is not a court room wall but the genocide in Gaza.
This is the same genocide the German state and too many Germans are ignoring and/or denying. The same genocide that has claimed the lives of at least 70.000 people including 20.000 children. The genocide that, as the Danish Refugee Council, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International, and Save the Children stated in April 2026, continues through “extreme deprivation, hunger, injury, and death”. The same Genocide that still after 6 months of “ceasefire” leaves us images of corpses that we will never forget nor forgive.
This is the genocide that moved Leandra, Daniel, Zo, Vi and Crow-after two years of protesting on the streets-to take direct action against the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems is the largest supplier of weapons to the Israel Defence Forces. Elbit Systems Deutschland has a factory in the southern German city of Ulm, in which they manufacture, among other things, communications equipment and laser warning systems used in the genocide in Gaza.
While the Ulm 5 are being investigated for property damage, and have been held in pre-trial detention for almost 8 months in horrible conditions, the prosecution office refuses to investigate Elbit’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The choice of venue for this trial show makes crystal clear that the intentions of the State are to paint these activists as dangerous criminals. One quick look at courthouse webpage today shows that trials for murder, intended kidnapping and grave sexual assault are held there, as well as the infamous trial of the Red Army Fraction. And then there is the trial of the Ulm5.
As is now usual for the German state, the Ulm 5 are also being accused of antisemitism because they tried to stop the Israeli weapons manufacturer of killing more people. This is a preposterous accusation from a State which can’t see the difference between the currently-accused-of-genocide-at-the-ICJ-state-of-Israel and the Jewish people. In the State’s accusation they seem to confuse facts like Israel has killed 20.000 children with their own blood libels of their Nazi past. These accusations are an insult to everyone’s intelligence and should be dropped straight away.
This is Germany today. A country that invokes its past genocides to justify it’s newest. A country supporting an outlawed war criminal with an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. A country that weaponises one of its worst crimes, antisemitism, to incite hatred against minorities who are not good for Merzs Stadtsbild (image of the city). A country yet again rotten with genocidal, racist, fascist mania.
Press release: 24th April 2026
Mothers of the Ulm5: “The Stuttgart public prosecutor is weaponising antisemitism allegations against young people seeking to stop a genocide”
Parents, siblings, and partners of the five activists who are on trial in Stuttgart-Stammheim starting April 27th, for their protest against the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems, accuse Baden-Württemberg’s public prosecutor of wrongly characterising the act as antisemitic, when its aim was to stop acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Elbit supplies 86% of the Israeli military’s weapons and surveillance technology.
“Our children protested against Elbit’s involvement in Israel’s war crimes and genocide in Gaza,” says Mimi, the mother of Daniel. “Their action expressed outrage at the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent children and babies and other civilians, and the inaction of German politicians, in the face of a military campaign that international lawyers and Holocaust researchers agree is genocidal. Their motivation was to save lives.”
“Vi and their friends had tried all the usual ways, street demonstrations, contacting elected representatives, etc, to protest Israel’s genocide on Palestinians,” says Josey, the partner of Vi. “Meanwhile, the German state doubled down on its weapon shipments, and police continued beating and arresting peaceful protestors. The action the five took is in line with international law. States have an obligation to prevent genocide.”
Relatives of the accused also criticise the prison conditions in which their loved ones have been incarcerated in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria since September 2025 – nearly eight months so far. Several are only allowed to leave their cells for one hour a day. Some have witnessed suicides and received inadequate health care. Visits and contact with relatives are constantly surveilled by police and only permitted twice a month for half an hour. Opportunities to access books have been rigidly restricted for several of the accused; one was only granted the right to order books after appeals escalated to the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court.
The families of the Ulm5 also reject the accusation that their loved ones are members of a criminal organisation. They point out that this was the action of five friends who shared a passion to defend human rights and prevent further international war crimes; that no-one was hurt, that no allegation of harm to anyone has been made; and that the young people’s action was directed solely against the buildings and property of the arms manufacturer. “The action took place at night. No uninvolved citizens were affected,” the families say. “Our loved ones did not endanger anyone, let alone harm them, and they would not do so. Their aim was to prevent harm to others.”
Families and partners are available for interviews and background discussions: ulm5family@proton.me
Ulm5 lawyers press release April 2026 English
PRESS RELEASE – Defence Team of the “Ulm 5”
Trial Opens 27 April 2026: Five Activists Face Court – Defence Accuses Judiciary and Prosecution
On Monday, 27 April 2026 at 9:00 a.m., the trial of five young people who have been held in pre-trial detention since 8 September 2025 – for more than seven months – will begin before the State Security Chamber of the Stuttgart Regional Court. The hearing will take place in Courtroom 2, Ground Floor, Asperger Straße 47, 70439 Stuttgart.
The five defendants – the “Ulm 5” – are accused of having caused property damage on the premises of Elbit Systems Deutschland in Ulm. No one was injured.
Stammheim Is No Coincidence – and the Court Remains Silent
The defence team has repeatedly asked the court in writing why the trial is being held at the Stuttgart-Stammheim courthouse – a venue inextricably linked to the terrorism trials of the 1970s. This is not a regular courthouse in any meaningful sense; rather, it consists of courtrooms annexed to the prison and used by the Stuttgart Court of Appeal.
To date, no answer has been provided. The defence sees no reasonable justification for this choice; other courtrooms in Stuttgart were available. Staging the trial in this building amounts to a prejudgement of the defendants and gives little confidence that there will be a fair, rule-of-law process.
Seven Months of Pre-Trial Detention Are Disproportionate
The prosecution has charged the five defendants with: membership of a criminal organisation, joint property damage, and trespass. None of the defendants has a prior criminal record. None used violence against any person.
Continued detention for more than seven months is not proportionate to the alleged offence. The defence team continues to demand the immediate release of the defendants from pre-trial detention.
The Prosecution Has Persistently Failed to Ask the Decisive Questions
Central to the defence is something that the prosecution has consistently refused to investigate: the role of Elbit Systems Deutschland in the genocide of the Palestinian population in Gaza.
As early as November 2025, the defence team formally requested that the prosecution investigate which products the Ulm-based company supplies, and to whom. The prosecution ignored this application and did not even deem it necessary to question a single person at Elbit Systems Deutschland on the matter.
In the course of the proceedings, the defence will demonstrate that Elbit Systems Deutschland actively and in multiple ways contributes to the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. To this end, we will submit corresponding motions for evidence before the court.
Criminal proceedings that ignore this question are incomplete proceedings. It will become clear that the actions of our clients were legally and morally justified as an act of necessity.
Who Are the “Ulm 5”?
Five young people – students, artists, activists – from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany, who for years have campaigned for Palestinian rights through legal means. Their action on 8 September 2025 was an expression of deep moral conviction – civil disobedience directed exclusively at property, in order to save human lives.
Members of the press are warmly invited to attend the opening of the trial. The defence team is available for enquiries.
The Defence Team in proceedings 18 KLs 36 Js 123/25
Contact:
- Rechtsanwältin Dr. Maja Beisenherz, Munich – Info@beisenherz.eu – 0177 / 70 95 812
- Rechtsanwalt Michael Brenner, Nurnberg, michael.brenner@anw-nbg.de, 0911 / 37 66 42 77
- Rechtsanwalt Mathes Breuer, Munich – breuer@kanzlei-abe.de – 0175 / 52 46 963
- Rechtsanwältin Anna Magdalena Busl, Bonn – busl@anwaltsbuero-bonn.de – 0176 / 23 23 32 35
- Rechtsanwalt Benjamin Düsberg, Berlin – mail@rechtsanwalt-duesberg.de – 0157 / 30 30 8383
- Rechtsanwältin Carolin Kaufmann, Berlin – kaufmann@akm-berlin.de – 0172 / 4721420
- Rechtsanwältin Rosa Mayer-Eschenbach, Munich – eschenbach@kanzlei-abe.de – 0176 / 65 35 9443
- Rechtsanwältin Christina Mucha, Memmingen – info@kanzlei-mucha.de – 08331 / 69 08 136
- Rechtsanwältin Nina Onèr, Berlin – kanzlei@ninaoner.de – 030 / 22185454
- Rechtsanwalt Matthias Schuster, Berlin – mail@anwalt-schuster.de – 0176 / 24 75 8230
- Rechtsanwältin Martina Sulzberger, Augsburg – kanzlei@anwaeltin-sulzberger.de – 0821 / 50 87 3850
