Press release from families and loved ones of the Ulm5 – 22nd June 2026, Stuttgart
Next hearings: 29th June, 1st & 3rd July – 9:00 a.m. at Asperger Str. 47, 70439 Stuttgart
On 9th June, Jaume Asens MEP (Greens) hosted a delegation of Ulm5 families and a defence lawyer at the European Parliament, held a press conference with Ulm5 lawyer Mathes Breuer and Zo's mother Nicky Robertson, and submitted a Written Question to the European Commission about procedural irregularities surrounding the case (signed by 21 MEPs and supported by others whose quota had been reached for this quarter).
At the press conference, Jaume Asens MEP said that Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, belonged in the dock – not the Ulm5. He noted that Genocide Convention signatories are obliged to uphold international law and prevent genocide, and the Ulm5 had sought to do this while Germany ignored it, exported arms to Israel during the genocide in Gaza, and now prosecuted those who protested. Asens pointed to the precedent of President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, convicted at The Hague in 2006 for supplying arms to the conflict in Sierra Leone. Ulm5 lawyer Mathes Breuer spoke of rights violations at the trial and mother of Zo Nicky Robertson spoke of procedural violence in the five prisons and at the court.
Asens’ Written Question raises concerns about potential degrading treatment and fair trial rights violations in the Ulm5 trial, asking whether conditions are compatible with Article 47 of the Charter, Directive 2016/343/EU, and ECHR Article 6; and if not, whether the Commission intends to communicate formally with German authorities regarding compliance with these guarantees.
The Ulm5 defence and loved ones reiterated their call for Irish, Spanish, UK, and German officials to monitor the trial of their citizens.
What happened last week at the trial of the Ulm5 in Stammheim, Stuttgart?
On Monday 15th June:
• The court deployed the five’s concerns about their human rights at the trial as arguments against release from pre-trial detention, claiming these concerns increased their flight risk.
• The defence argued that presiding Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt was holding defendants hostage for expressing beliefs in their human rights, and lodged further motions for recusal on grounds of bias.
• The court stated falsehoods, claiming that no partition-free rooms exist at Stammheim court for lawyer-client consultations (the lawyers have used such rooms, and are aware that they do exist), and that no writing implements exist without sharp points that can injure.
• The judge once again refused defence applications for a note-taker (no reason given), and for the public to have writing implements, even those without sharp points (allegedly for security reasons).
• Leandra addressed the court, noting that she has no convictions and has never harmed anyone, asking on what grounds she was held in a glass cage – the judge only referred to previous decisions (that have not justified this).
• One lawyer asked the judges other than the presiding judge whether any of them had minds of their own, as they simply nod in agreement with whatever the presiding judge proposes. When some members of the public drummed their feet in support of this, the judge expelled the entire public gallery including family members, without attempting to identify who made the noise.
• The defence lodged another motion to recuse for judicial bias, based in part on the judge smiling with pleasure when expelling the public from proceedings.
On Friday 19th June:
• The defence lodged an objection to the court’s mistreatment of the public, and read specific complaints by multiple attendees who experienced body searches by one guard akin to sexual assaults.
• To assure defendants’ trial rights to accurate translation, in accordance with European Union Directive 2010/64/EU, the defence requested complete recordings be made of all court proceedings, including what interpreters and defendants say - as defendants' statements, and the interpretations made for them, are not heard in open court. State prosecutor Ronny Stengel took the view that, as this is not specified in the German Criminal Code, it was unnecessary, and claimed there had been no evidence of such a need. However, two defence attorneys pointed to translation errors of which they were already aware. A decision is awaited. For now, the record (Protokoll) includes only key points as decided by Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt meaning it will be impossible to identify translation errors affecting the defendants' fair trial rights, and no complete, objective record of proceedings is available.
• Powerful evidence from surgeons on deaths and injuries of babies and children in Gaza was read in court by defence counsel Nina Onèr, who requested it be taken into evidence. This was excerpted from a devastating investigative report, What the Wounds Are Telling Us, that won the 2026 European Press Prize for Distinguished Reporting. One interpreter’s voice broke with emotion three times while translating descriptions of bullet wounds assumed to be from Israeli snipers targeting young children.
• A 1.5-hour video of the action at Elbit Systems in Ulm was presented as evidence, a compilation of footage edited from Ulm5 headcams, Elbit security cameras, and police body cameras.
• The judge declared herself to be a sergeant-major in charge of a barracks. This revealing moment came during the showing of the police video as it documented a person walking fast in the dark, breathing heavily, saying “I have to give up smoking”. The public gallery laughed, and the judge shouted “Silence at the back!”. In response, defence counsel Matthias Schuster said, “This is a court room, not a barracks, and you are not a sergeant-major”, whereupon the judge contradicted him: “Yes I am!”*
• The day ended with the defence demanding this inappropriate behaviour be read into the formal court record (Protokoll), and with all five defence teams lodging a motion for recusal for bias on behalf of their defendants, the public, and themselves, as the judge had revealed her belief in having a militaristic rather than a judicial role and her implacable opposition to the defendants and to the public.
Next hearings: 29th June, 1st & 3rd July – 9:00 a.m. at Asperger Str. 47, 70439 Stuttgart
Families and partners are available for interviews: ulm5family@proton.me
Visit www.ulm5.info for all press releases from lawyers and family as well as all trial dates
Instagram: @theulm5
The exchange in German was as follows:
Presiding Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt: Ruhe da hinten!
Defence counsel Matthias Schuster: Dies ist ein Gerichtssaal, keine Kaserne, und Sie sind kein Feldwebel.
Presiding Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt: Doch!