- Opinion
- 23 Jul 26
Politicians attend trial of Irish activist Daniel Tatlow-Devally and the Ulm 5
TD Richard Boyd Barrett described the trial yesterday as a 'show trial' where the defendants did not receive justice.
Yesterday, a group of six cross-party Irish politicians attended the trial of Irish activist Daniel Tatlow-Devally in Stuttgart, Germany.
There were concerns highlighted by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who attended the trial yesterday, of the "inhumane conditions," and that the defendants were "tried under laws and in a manner normally reserved for terrorists and organised criminals." This included allegations of food shortages, no recordings of the trials being kept and that the Irish Government had not sent an observer.
32-year-old Tatlow-Devally is a member of the Ulm 5, a group of pro-Palestine activists who are on trial in Stuttgart with the charge of a break-in at an Elbit Systems facility in the southwest of Germany.
The cross-party delegation are People Before Profit–Solidarity TDs Richard Boyd Barrett and Ruth Coppinger, Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell and MEP Lynn Boylan, Labour Party TD Duncan Smith, Fine Gael TD Barry Ward, and Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson.
The politicians said there was no transcript of the recording of the trial and defendants were denied access to talk to their lawyers. The politicians, who were not permitted to take notes during the hearing, each raised concerns of the manner it was conducted in is a violation of EU human rights laws.
The Elbit Systems facility is a subsidary of Elbit Israel that that manufactures over 80% of weapons used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza.
The Ulm 5 have been held in prison since the alleged break-in after a video was posted in September 2025 which showed the protesters damaging equipment and chanting 'Free Palestine.'
They are being tried under Section 129 of the German Criminal Code which considers them a 'criminal organisation' and German prosecutors accuse them of causing around €1 million worth of damages. If they are found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.
TD Mairéad Farrell, alongside Boyd Barrett, visited Tatlow-Devally in prison ahead of the trial. "The conditions we saw and those he spoke about were awful," Farrell said.
"Our demand is that the Irish Government sends observers to this court case in which there is an Irish citizen."
Boyd Barrett described the trial yesterday as a 'show trial' where the defendants did not receive justice.
Greta Thunberg attended and has been advocating the release of the Ulm 5. "The court exhausts us by dragging this trial on to next year, however we will consistently show up until the Ulm 5 are released and until Palestine is free," she said in an Instagram post on July 13.
"Today, in a courtroom beside the one where the Ulm 5 are being prosecuted, a group of violent fascists charged with attempted murder, who shot and wounded two people, were allowed to leave the courtroom during their trial," Boyd Barrett said in an Instagram post after the trial.
"Just a few metres away, five peace activists are being kept behind glass, denied access to their lawyers, and treated like terrorists for destroying weapons that would have been used to harm civilians, in an action where no one was ever harmed or threatened. The hypocrisy is beyond belief."
Greta Thunberg attended alongside the politicians.
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Also in an Instagram post, TD Ruth Coppinger said that when testimonies were requested to be read in defendants' own languages, "it had quickly become apparent that the translator was leaving out some details and not being fully accurate."
According to observations of the cross-party delegation, Tatlow-Devally is being held under a regime involving up to 23 hours in his prison cell a day and is allowed visitors for one hour per month.
"How this trial is being run is very different to what we would see in Ireland – for example, the trial does not take place on consecutive days meaning the process is being long drawn out, all the while Daniel is kept in solitary confinement in prison," Labour TD Duncan Smith said. "This is despite the fact that Daniel and his colleagues are of no threat to people.
"This has all the hallmarks of a show trial. In the courtroom, Daniel and his colleagues are kept behind a glass screen, unable to sit beside and confer with their lawyers."
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