The trial of five pro-Palestinian activists accused of attacking an Israeli defence company’s site in Germany is due to continue on Monday after a chaotic start in late April.
The defendants are accused of breaking into the company’s premises in the south-western city of Ulm at night and destroying valuable company inventory.
At the start of the trial in late April, defence lawyers staged a protest by sitting in the defendants’ seats inside the heavily secured court building in Stuttgart. The judge then adjourned the hearing before the charges could be read out.
The attack on the defence company last year drew significant attention and outrage.
The Ulm 5, as the group has become known, are three women and two men of Irish, British, Spanish and German nationality, aged between 25 and 40.
They are accused of criminal damage and trespass, as well as of being members of a criminal organization over their ties to Palestine Action Germany.
The activists allegedly broke into a site belonging to a German subsidiary of the Israeli defence company Elbit Systems in September 2025, aiming to protest Germany’s support for Israel during the war in Gaza.
Elbit is a provider of military equipment for the Israeli military, while the German subsidiary develops and manufactures military communications equipment.
The start of the trial was chaotic. Pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated outside the court building, while dozens of spectators shouted and applauded as the defendants were brought into the courtroom in handcuffs.