Story perspectives

German Judges Box Protesters, Delay Trial Over Elbit Break-in

4/28/2026

Left

German Judges Delay

Judges delayed the trial by confining the defendants in glass enclosures, preventing direct lawyer contact.
Five activists are on trial in Germany for breaking into an Elbit Systems factory, facing up to five years.
Families report over seven months pre-trial detention, often in solitary confinement with monitored visits.
Amnesty International and NGOs argue the terrorism-style criminal-organisation charge equates legitimate protest with organized crime.

Right

Ulm 5 Trial

A court-ordered glass barrier separating Daniel Tatlow-Devally from his family was mistakenly applied for five months before officials corrected it.
Five far-left activists called the “Ulm 5” will stand trial in Germany for breaking into an Elbit Systems arms factory.
Lawyer Benjamin Düsberg claims activists acted in defence of others and will blame Elbit executives.
Mimi Tatlow-Golden says the prosecution is political, adding her son caused only property damage.

Blindspot

Left coverage emphasised the activists’ extended pre-trial detention, solitary confinement, heavily monitored visits, and the impact on their families, highlighting human-rights concerns.
Right coverage did not include those detention conditions or the criticism of charging the group under a terrorism-related criminal-organisation statute.

History

Historical Context

In 1975 West Germany built a fortified wing at Stammheim Prison for the Red Army Faction leaders, spending 12 million DM and stationing 400 police and 100 GSG-9 officers under steel-mesh roofs. The trial’s harsh solitary-confinement regime prompted the Bundesverfassungsgericht’s 1976 ruling that limited such measures. Today, Ulm 5 activists detained behind glass cages and charged under a criminal-organisation statute echo that legacy.

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German Judges Delay

Judges delayed the trial by confining the defendants in glass enclosures, preventing direct lawyer contact.
Five activists are on trial in Germany for breaking into an Elbit Systems factory, facing up to five years.
Families report over seven months pre-trial detention, often in solitary confinement with monitored visits.
Amnesty International and NGOs argue the terrorism-style criminal-organisation charge equates legitimate protest with organized crime.

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