The five activists—Daniel Tatlow-Devally, Zo Hailu, Crow Tricks, Vi Kovarbasic, and Leandra Rollo—were arrested following a September demonstration at Elbit Systems Germany in Ulm. While prosecutors allege the group caused approximately €1 million in damages and operated as a criminal organization, the defendants remain unconvicted. They have been held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, a state of pre-trial detention that is scheduled to extend until January 2027.
The Ulm 5: Pre-trial detention and the limits of German protest
Handcuffed, isolated, and held behind bullet-proof glass, five activists known as the Ulm 5 face years of imprisonment before a verdict is ever reached. Their detention at the high-security Stammheim prison has sparked a fierce debate over the presumption of innocence and Germany’s rigid stance on pro-Palestinian dissent.
The proceedings have drawn intense criticism from families of the accused, who argue that the state is weaponizing accusations of antisemitism to silence political opposition. Mimi Tatlow-Golden, mother of Daniel Tatlow-Devally, noted that the indictment attempts to frame the activists within a narrative of hate speech, despite her own family’s Jewish heritage. As Germany continues to supply military hardware to Israel, the treatment of the Ulm 5 highlights a growing friction between the state’s security-focused legal apparatus and the rights of those protesting its foreign policy.
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