The Ulm 5 – who include two UK citizens, one Irish, one Spanish and one German – have been accused of breaking into the site of the German subsidiary of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, in Ulm, Southwest Germany, on 8th September 2025, and of damaging property.
As their defence lawyers we call on the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor's Office also to investigate the potential involvement of Elbit Systems Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza.
Our clients' motivation was to prevent such crimes. Elbit Systems Deutschland GmbH und Co. KG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Israeli company Elbit Systems Ltd. The military technology company and defense contractor profits considerably from the war in Gaza and supplies a large proportion of the drones used there. Elbit Systems Deutschland must therefore also account for its shared responsibility for war crimes in Gaza. Yet more two months after the incident, the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor's Office has not conducted any investigations in this regard.
The actions of the Ulm 5 were clearly aimed at a legitimate goal, namely, to end the killing of civilians in Gaza. Only property damage was caused; no persons were injured.
Furthermore, the defense demands that our clients be released immediately from pre-trial detention, which is being enforced with heightened restrictions, such as strict surveillance of phone calls, post, and visits. Some of the accused are on 23-hour lock-in with access to books and activities denied.
Not only is the enforcement of pre-trial detention disproportionate to the alleged offense, but furthermore there is no compelling reason for pre-trial detention at all. An assumption of flight risk is absurd, given the circumstances: our clients recorded themselves during the action and then permitted themselves to be arrested by the police without resistance. A video of the action was posted online publicly. Clearly, their intention was not to evade proceedings, but rather to face them, so they can explain the reasons for their actions.
The members of the defense team undersigned are available to answer any questions.
Dr. Maja Beisenherz, München
info@beisenherz.eu, 0177 / 70 95 812
Mathes Breuer, München
breuer@kanzlei-abe.de, 0175 / 52 46 963
Benjamin Düsberg, Berlin
mail@rechtsanwalt-duesberg.de, 0157 / 30 30 8383
Rosa Mayer-Eschenbach, München
eschenbach@kanzlei-abe.de, 0176 / 65 35 9443
Christina Mucha, Memmingen
info@kanzlei-mucha.de, 08331 / 69 08 136
Matthias Schuster, Berlin
mail@anwalt-schuster.de, 0176 / 24 75 8230
Martina Sulzberger, Augsburg
kanzlei@anwaeltin-sulzberger.de, 0821 / 50 87 3850