Overview

• Stephan Hensel returned for a fifth straight day of testimony in the Hamburg criminal trial over the New Year’s Eve 2023/24 child abduction.
• When asked if he shared procedural documents with third parties, Hensel invoked his right to refuse to answer under §55 due to an apparent investigation.
• The presiding judge ruled that questions about alleged document leaks were unlawful and, after a recess, reaffirmed the ban on that line of inquiry.
• Hensel later confirmed he had given trial files to his wife, whom he believed would join as a co-complainant, and said he did not share them with the children.
• The judge ordered Christina Block’s PR manager, Béla Anda, to leave the public gallery after he was identified as a potential witness, as the defense continued its intensive questioning of Hensel.