Germany: 'Ulm 5' on trial after attack on Israeli arms company

A trial has begun against five activists accused of attacking a German branch of Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems in September 2025. The first hearing opened in a high-security court in Stuttgart on April 27, but was aborted within minutes after defense attorneys objected to the fact that they were unable to communicate confidentially with their clients. 

Elbit Systems is one of Israel's largest arms manufacturers with subsidiary factories in several countries. The company manufactures drones, command-and-control, and telecommunications equipment for several other militaries, including the German Bundeswehr. Germany is Israel's second biggest arms supplier.

The defendants, who hold UK, Irish, German and Spanish citizenship, have been charged with trespass, destruction of property, membership of a criminal organization and use of symbols of terrorist organizations. They have been held in separate prisons since their arrest on September 8, 2025, and face several years in prison if found guilty.

Videos posted online appear to show the activists breaking into the Elbit Systems subsidiary offices in the southern city of Ulm, damaging several computers and other technical equipment, and spray-painting slogans on the walls, including "baby killers." According to the defense, when security personnel on site alerted the police, the activists waited on site to be arrested. 

Prosecutors interpret 'Palestine Action' group as 'criminal organization' 

The group are being charged under Section 129 of the German Criminal Code, which forbids the formation and membership of criminal organizations. The section has become controversial in recent years because prosecutors have increasingly used it against other protest movements, such as the climate group Last Generation. Amnesty International and others have argued that the section is being misused by German prosecutors. "This carries the risk of associating legitimate civic engagement with organized crime," Paula Zimmermann, spokesperson for Amnesty International Germany, told DW in a statement.

The Stuttgart state prosecutors argued that the use of Section 129 was legitimate, as the group "Palestine Action Germany," to which they say the defendants belong, has been considered a "criminal organization" by several courts leading up to the trial. "This legal interpretation has also been adopted in all decisions rendered to date in this case by various courts — most recently by the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart," a statement to DW said. The defense, for its part, told DW that the prosecutors have not proved that "Palestine Action Germany" even exists as a formal organization.

The defense intends to argue that the "Ulm 5," as the group has come to be known, were trying to stop a genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza, by "assistance in self-defense." The German media, citing Elbit Systems spokespeople, has reported that the Ulm facility was used for telecommunications parts to be sold to the German military.

"That is wrong," said Mathes Breuer, defense attorney for the defendant Leandra R. "We have evidence that the research they're doing in Ulm is important for drone manufacturing. We have proof that there are parts from Ulm being delivered to Elbit facilities in Israel — technical components for tanks and drones." He said this evidence would be presented to the court in the trial.

Germany 'concerned for ongoing suffering' of Gaza civilians

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Adjourned proceedings

The trial happened at a high security court at the Stammheim prison, the same courtroom where a notorious trial against the left-wing RAF terrorists took place in the 1970s. The defense, and several observers in the German media, have taken seen the choice of venue as an attempt to present the Ulm 5 as terrorists.

The trial itself got off to a fractious start in late April, as the 11 defense lawyers refused to sit down because their clients had been put behind a glass separator, which prevented direct contact with their lawyers — this was, the lawyers said, a clear violation of lawyer-client confidentiality.

"At one point I had to shout over the glass," Breuer told DW. "There was no chance we could have a conversation without surveillance. In theory, everything that my client would have discussed with me would have been heard by the court." 

"I've never had this problem before," added Breuer, who said he had written to the court a month before the hearing to clarify these issues, but had received no response. "That wasn't a court hearing, that was a show to make our clients look like terrorists. This court isn't neutral." 

After a two-hour break, the judge adjourned proceedings altogether, and it is still unclear how the impasse will be resolved, as the next two court dates have been canceled, and the next hearing is set for May 11.

Speaking from outside the courtroom on April 27, Josie, partner of defendant Vi K., said the state's actions have been disproportionate. "These are five activists who took this action only targeting physical property," Josie told DW. "They did not attempt to harm anyone, they are not a threat to society, they do not deserve to be in a glass separator."

Genocide occurring in Gaza, says UN human rights commission

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Detention conditions

Partners and relatives of the defendants, who have become known as the "Ulm 5," say the German state is trying to make an example of them, both through the unusually long pre-trial detention — over seven months — and what they say are particularly strict detention conditions. 

In a statement emailed to DW, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court said that the law allows the court to determine that pretrial detention could be extended beyond the stipulated six months under certain conditions. "The Higher Regional Court based its decision, among other things, on the existence of a risk of flight, which would not be sufficiently mitigated even by the posting of bail," the statement said. "Visits and telecommunications require authorization and are monitored if the requirements for such an order are met." 

The Stuttgart prosecutor, meanwhile, said that it had not requested any special conditions of detention. "These are the standard restrictions under German criminal procedure law that accompany a court order for pretrial detention," a spokesperson said. 

But the defendants' friends and family are not happy. "I think it's all completely unjustified," Josie said. "The five committed this action and waited for the police to come. They did not resist arrest, they did not hide their faces, they did not attempt to flee. The action was apparently a political statement. They all have studies or work or other commitments in Berlin. They have no incentive to flee the country. They were ready to take responsibility for their actions the whole time."

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been investigating Israel's conduct in Gaza since South Africa launched a case at the UN top court in December 2023, alleging that it amounts to genocide. Israel's conduct in the war has been found by many international rights organizations and a United Nations commission to be a genocide. Israel denies this.

Edited by Rina Goldenberg