Overview
- After a three‑week pause for the defense to review hundreds of pages of new material, the court reconvened Wednesday under heightened security with David Barkay expected to appear as a witness.
- Prosecutors recently questioned two further Israeli suspects under secure conduct after international warrants, a step the defense says skewed procedural fairness and public perception.
- Materials now in the case file include a Signal group titled “Bring Kids Home” and a 30‑page “Golden Ice #5” plan outlining surveillance and a potential 36‑hour extraction scenario months before the abduction.
- Barkay has told prosecutors the team acted on Block’s directions and received roughly €200,000 in cash, much of it allegedly via the family lawyer, while Block maintains the firm was hired for hotel IT security and denies commissioning a kidnapping.
- One Israeli co‑defendant has confessed to taking part in the operation and described transporting the two children to a farm in Baden‑Württemberg before they were returned by court order.