Daniel Tatlow-Devally
Free Daniel
Daniel Tatlow-Devally, a Berlin-based Irish citizen, took action in Ulm, south-west Germany with four friends at an Elbit Systems production site, seeking to prevent genocide in Gaza. Elbit Systems provides 86% of the weapons used in Gaza.The “Ulm 5” have been held in harsh pre-trial detention in Germany since September 8th 2025.They will be tried in a state security chamber at a maximum security prison outside Stuttgart.The trial begins 27 April 2026 and is expected to run at least until 29 July.Read on for more about charges the Ulm 5 face, their repressive detention conditions, and why we are concerned they will not receive a fair trial.We will post trial updates here.
Why are we concerned for these human rights defenders?
As Daniel’s family and friends, we are very concerned for Daniel and the Ulm 5: for their well-being, conditions, and rights to a fair trial. We are also concerned about the wider crackdown on protestors and human rights defenders in Germany as noted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Germany is using the notorious ‘Section 129’ against these human rights defenders in an extension of excessive repression already highlighted by UN Special Rapporteurs• The Ulm 5 may not receive a fair trial, as higher court judges have already indicated sentencing. Judges ordering detention have expressed views of the nature of the action, the character of the 5, their motivation, and the likely sentence - all before the trial has even taken place, and without hearing defence evidence. In Germany, judges typically follow such “guidance” from higher courts.• The Ulm 5 are being pre-emptively punished with extensive and harsh pre-trial detention. Daniel is held in de facto solitary confinement, locked up for 23 hours a day.• All will have been held in harsh pre-trial detention for nearly a year by the time the trial is complete – without having been found guilty of any crime.• Legal observers and family face a huge challenge to attend as the court will sit on 16 erratic dates spread across 14 weeks from April to July 2026.
We call on TDs, the Irish government, MEPs, and the EU to:
• Ensure full access to due process and fair trial rights for Daniel and the Ulm 5.• Call on the court to investigate Elbit Systems Germany’s role in the Gaza genocide.• Oppose Germany’s criminalisation of anti-genocide protest.• Call on the German government to uphold its obligations under international law, including its immediate duty under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide and to refrain from aiding or facilitating serious breaches of international law.
What can you do?
Democracy and rights to protest are under threat around the world. It’s vital we do everything we can to draw attention to the misuse of law at home and among our fellow democracies.
• Tell your TDs and MEPs about Daniel and the Ulm 5!
Encourage them to put pressure on the government and the EU to take action.• Sign the Petition• Write to your TD• Support Daniel’s family and legal observers to attend the trial. The trial will be held on 16 sporadic dates across 4 months in April-July 2026, making attendance extremely difficult and costly for family, friends and legal observers from Ireland.
Who are the Ulm 5?
Daniel and four others – citizens of Germany, Spain and Britain – are alleged to have entered the arms company Elbit Systems in Ulm (southwest Germany) and damaged buildings and property. No one was hurt. Elbit claims they caused damage of over €1 million.The five friends explained in online videos that their direct action aimed to stop Elbit Systems supplying and profiting from weapons used in Israel’s genocide in Gaza (see this UN report). They filmed their action, waited for police to arrive, and did not resist arrest.What are they charged with?The prosecutor has charged all 5 with membership of a criminal organization (Section 129); trespass; property damage; and, for saying “from the river to the sea” in videos, displaying symbols of an unconstitutional terrorist organisation.What are the Ulm 5’s conditions?All 5 are being held in pre-trial detention, in 5 different prisons in south-west Germany, three of them in lock-up for 20-23 hours a day. Multiple bail applications since September 2025 have been rejected by the courts.All 5 were held in police custody in Ulm for 30 hours (several in only underwear for many hours). One was taken to hospital where medication was prescribed and given to police – which they refused to give them for 20 hours. The police refused all 5 access to their appointed lawyers despite multiple requests from the 5 and multiple approaches to the police from their lawyers. The police attempted to question the 5 without legal representation, but they availed of their right to silence.Section 129 permits the authorities to engage in extensive surveillance of anyone connected with the 5, and to surveil all communication with family and friends. This means that all visits are surveilled by a translator and police representatives, who report back to the prosecutor or the court. No discussion of the case is allowed. All calls and letters are read by the censor; some have been returned to senders.
Germany represses protest - the notorious ‘Section 129’
Germany’s use of the notorious Section 129 law has been called out by UN Special Rapporteurs as a state device to quash protest and civil disobedience particularly regarding climate change, anti-war and pro-Palestine activity. The mere accusation of offences against Section 129 – which does not have to meet clearly defined criteria and has a long history of being used as a tool of political repression – is enough to warrant pre-trial detention for up to six months. This has now elapsed for the Ulm 5, yet the courts continue to order their detention.This treatment of the Ulm 5 is part of a general pattern in Germany of wholesale criminalisation of pro-Palestine protest. UN Special Rapporteurs have likewise urged Germany to stop criminalizing Palestine solidarity protest. Solidarity Court Support Berlin, in a court observer project that observed 200 trials during 2025, concluded that “the courts legitimize and enforce a political agenda dictated by the Staatsräson” (Germany’s raison d’état that seeks to protect the State of Israel no matter what). The project described evidence of “criminalizing dissent through biased proceedings, selective application of the law, and the procedural intimidation of defendants and the public.”
What is Daniel’s situation?
All of the Ulm 5 are experiencing harsh conditions. In Ulm prison, Daniel’s conditions have been particularly restrictive.• Daniel is held in lock-up for 23 hours a day.• Just 1 hour daily in the yard, 1 hour weekly in the gym.• It was 2 weeks before the prison facilitated a lawyer’s visit to Daniel.• It was 1 month before the Irish consulate was allowed to see Daniel.• It was 1 month before family were allowed to see Daniel.• Family are allowed only two 30-minute visits a month.• For the first five months, Daniel was unlawfully forced to have family visits while locked behind a floor-to-ceiling glass partition at the end of a room. Pressure from Irish TDs changed this.• No phone calls are allowed other than to lawyers.• Phone calls with lawyers have repeatedly been cut short by the prison, though German law dictates that they should be unrestricted.• Daniel’s access to books was restricted to the prison library and three other books, with no legal justification (in contrast to other German prisons where books can be sent to prisoners via online retailers). This contravenes rights under the state’s prison laws, the German constitution, and EU recommendations for prisoner conditions. After repeated appeals, the State Higher Court ruled this was unlawful. After 8 months of 23-hour lock-up, Daniel reported that he was going to be allowed to order some books.
Will the trial be fair?
• The action posed no threat to any persons and property damage only. However it was immediately handed to the State attorney general in Stuttgart and investigated as a matter of state security.• Repeated bail judgments show the prosecutor and judges making speculative inferences including claiming that these 5 have stepped out of society - with the implication that they don’t deserve rights.• The presence of peaceful demonstrators at bail hearings has repeatedly been cited by judges, most recently by the Stuttgart High Court, as indicating a highly organized, professionally-run criminal organization.• The conflation of protest and civil disobedience with serious crime by the German state has been identified as a matter of concern by UN Special Rapporteurs and the Civil Liberties Union for Europe 2026 report.• The Stuttgart High Court (in a pre-trial detention decision for one of the Ulm 5 in March 2026) stated that the sentence would likely not be at the lower end of the range. Lawyers say the Regional Court is likely to follow this higher court ‘guidance’ despite hearing no defence evidence.• The trial process makes it extremely difficult for family, friends, and legal observers to attend. It is currently scheduled for 16 sporadic non-consecutive days across 4 months (April-July). Defence counsel have even been ordered by the court to hold every Wednesday and Friday indefinitely after that.
About Daniel – by Daniel’s sister
Our family is from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Daniel and I went to St Kilian’s German School there. My brother is, and always has been, a deeply thoughtful person, with a wonderful imagination, a kind heart, and an insatiable appetite for reading. Daniel studied philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, where they were Secretary for the Literary Society, and interned at Poetry Ireland.Seven years ago, Daniel moved to Berlin where they have lived, studied and worked, and did a Masters in neuropsychology and philosophy at Humboldt University. For 5 years Daniel worked in a psychology lab, welcoming infants and toddlers, researching their responses to plants and nature.Daniel now works in AI analyses, on ecological and decolonial projects, such as classifying endangered European songbirds from sound recordings alone (which is being updated to track birds in Irish moorlands), and tracking origins of Ethnological Museum Berlin artefacts taken from indigenous communities.One of Daniel’s favourite places in Berlin is the Tempelhof airfield - an abandoned airport that was turned into the city’s largest park and community gardens. Daniel has spent countless hours rollerblading, cycling, running, and gardening there.In the last 2 years Daniel became increasingly concerned about the genocide in Gaza where they were involved in many demonstrations in Berlin.