Overview
- The five defendants, whose trial opened Monday in a high-security courtroom in Stuttgart-Stammheim, saw the session aborted after their lawyers walked out and then occupied the defendants’ seats behind the glass.
- Civil-rights monitors on Tuesday said the setup breached the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and urged the court to seat defendants next to counsel.
- Prosecutors charge the group with membership in a criminal organization, property damage, trespass, and using symbols of banned groups, alleging ties to Palestine Action Germany under the state security unit in Stuttgart.
- Investigators say the defendants broke into Elbit Systems Deutschland in Ulm on September 8, 2025 and smashed office and lab equipment, with damage estimated at about €1 million.
- Police arrested the five at the scene and say they had recorded claim-of-responsibility videos, and the next hearing is set for May 4 with the defendants still in pretrial detention.