Germany: Lawyers demand judge recusal in Ulm 5 trial after Israeli arms expert barred

A German court has rejected applications by defence lawyers to hear expert witnesses in an ongoing trial of five activists alleged to have broken into an Israeli-owned arms factory. Daniel Tatlow-Devally, Zo Hailu, Crow Tricks, Vi Kovarbasic and Leandra Rollo, who are from Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK, were arrested on 8 September following an alleged break-in on the premises of Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems in the southwestern German city of Ulm. Known as the “Ulm Five”, the group is accused of damaging the building's glass facade and smashing office equipment, including computers, screens and telephones. They have been held for over a year in pretrial detention. Defence lawyers told Middle East Eye that the court has either not responded to or rejected applications to hear from expert witnesses who could give testimony on the arms company’s role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The legal team resorted to presenting two witnesses in person, as, under German law, a court is obliged to hear evidence from witnesses summoned by the defence if they filed an application to do so. However, the court can reject the application if it deems the evidence to be inadmissible. On 14 October the defence presented weapons expert Dr Shir Hever, who could speak about the connection between the technology developed at the Ulm site and Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. After a day of deliberations the judge rejected the application, on the basis that the software developed at the laboratory had no connection with Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Germany: Trial of 'Ulm Five' protesters accused of Elbit break-in postponed Read More » The court then rejected another expert witness, international law expert Professor Isabel Feichtner, who was presented to give evidence on the genocide on 16 October. Defence lawyer Benjamin Düsberg, who represents Tatlow-Devally, described the decision as “absurd”. “The court has heard absolutely no evidence until now on this topic, so they just cannot know. And the expert was actually there to explain this connection,” he told MEE. He added that, as a result, the defence team is submitting an application to demand Judge Kathrin Lauchstadt's recusal on the grounds of bias. Speaking to reporters outside the court on Friday, Dusberg rejected the proceedings as “a pure show trial”. The activists are alleged to have damaged the Tactical Data Links (TDL) laboratory housed at Elbit’s Ulm site. Also speaking at the press conference, Hever explained that TDL is a network which allows Israeli soldiers to communicate and to share locations of targets. That information is then sent to a cloud called the Nimbus Project – produced by Amazon and Google – and then analysed by AI in order to generate mass targets. 'The witnesses either seem to all suffer from the identical amnesia or refuse to testify by invoking the limitations on their authorisation to testify' – Nina Oner, defence lawyer “So the way that this genocide is happening in Gaza is indeed unprecedented because it can produce targets on an industrial scale,” Hever explained. “This is why the action of the five was justified,” Düsberg said, emphasising that the laboratory had “been extremely important for the conduct of this war”. He stressed the fact that the defendants had targeted “precisely the laboratory where the technology is developed, must be taken into consideration”. Düsberg added: “The court said, 'We assume there is no connection', but without knowing anything, and they cannot, because none of their witnesses could say anything about the technical questions of the production in Ulm.” Stuttgart's regional court told MEE in response to a request for comment that it does not comment on “the conduct of the proceedings by the presiding judge, or the behaviour of those involved in the trial”. The court confirmed that the two witnesses presented by the defence had been rejected, and that “no decisions have yet been made” on the remaining evidence applications submitted by the team. Collective amnesia Defence lawyers and defendants’ family members told MEE that successive police witnesses had told the court they were instructed by the prosecution not to investigate Elbit Systems’ activities in relation to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. According to Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Tatlow-Devally’s mother, one police officer, Mr Herold, who was tasked with investigating Elbit’s finances, told the court that he had noted that 38 percent of Elbit’s profits went abroad. Jury refuses to convict seven Palestine Action defendants over Elbit raid Read More » “He was asked if he looked to see where that was going and he said no. So he said, 'Oh, anyway, I'm not a technical expert on weapons, and I don't know anything about this. It's not my area,'” Tatlow-Golden told MEE. Under German law, the public prosecutor is obligated to investigate both incriminating and exculpatory circumstances. Defence lawyers said that police witnesses called by the prosecution were unable to answer questions in cross-examination, citing memory loss or confidentiality. “Whenever we get to the really interesting questions, the witnesses either seem to all suffer from the identical amnesia or refuse to testify by invoking the limitations on their authorisation to testify,” lawyer Nina Oner, who represents Hailu, told MEE. On 25 August the court heard evidence from an investigating officer from the Stuttgart State Criminal Police Office (LKA), Ms Jager. She was tasked with processing the defendants at the Ulm-Mitte police station on 8 September, where they were being held following their arrest. Tatlow-Golden said that Jager told the court that she could not recall any details relating to her interactions with the defendants. “I’ve never seen anything like it. She couldn’t remember anything,” Tatlow-Golden told MEE. “She didn’t remember what the conditions were like. She didn't remember whether they asked for lawyers, or anything like that. She didn’t remember what time anything happened. She just kept not remembering. 'She didn't remember whether they asked for lawyers… She didn’t remember what time anything happened. She just kept not remembering' – Defendant's mother, on police officer “And I can only imagine that the reason that she claims not to remember anything is because she was the one who was in charge at the police station where they were held when they were supposed to have been read their rights,” Tatlow-Golden said, adding that this did not happen for 12 hours and that the five were denied access to their lawyers and contact with family. LKA told MEE in response to a request for comment that it does not comment on ongoing investigations. Tatlow-Golden said that Jager could also not recall multiple attempts by the defendants’ lawyers to speak with their clients. Tatlow-Devally identified Jäger as the officer that he had kept asking to allow him a call to his lawyer and his father. "Daniel's evidence was that Ms Jäger would just say 'later'," Tatlow-Golden said. Oner said that the defence team had repeatedly asked police witnesses about the involvement of the interior ministry or German intelligence services in the investigation. “Usually we get the answer that basically this is confidential information, and they cannot answer our questions,” Onèr told MEE. “We have been told by the witnesses that there have been meetings with the prosecutor, and that other people were involved, but we were not told who these other people were, and the only logical reason why that would be is because that is German intelligence services,” she added.