I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM
why is he being held? and who's "they"? -
I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM Now imagine your friend Daniel had violated the law in a country that doesn’t care much about human rights - like almost any country in Asia. And I mean that completely independently of his motives.
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@BenRiceM
why is he being held? and who's "they"?@dockwalk Daniel uses they/them pronouns.
And if you read the whole thread you should get all the context you need
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM
How can we write to them? -
I’ve spent these past few days dancing between seething rage at the justice system, profound admiration for my friend their co-defendants, and intense gratitude for the community of activists and volunteers who are fight for justice.
More than anything else though, I just fucking miss my friend.
@BenRiceM It is so awful that they are being treated that way. Thanks for posting this and I hope things improve for your friend.
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Daniel and the other defendants (the Ulm 5) broke into a building of Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer to destroy equipment there in the hopes of preventing some small amount of the genocide taking place in Palestine. Only property damage occurred, no people were harmed or threatened and the 5 voluntarily waited to be peacefully arrested.
I believe on Wednesday, Zo, one of the 5, said something to the effect of “this would all be worthwhile if we manage to save one child’s life”
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Daniel and their co-defendants (the Ulm 5) are separated from their legal teams by a wall of bulletproof glass and they cannot communicate effectively. They have to use microphones, which seem to cut out frequently, or speak through a grill in the wall. And they must juggle listening to the lawyers, the judge, and translators simultaneously.
Every day in court, the 5 request that they be allowed sit with their lawyers and every day, the judge denies their requests.
what is the justice system so afraid of that they must subvert the justice system that they apparently believe in so much?
what are they afraid of?
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Just this week I happened to read the preamble text of the United Nations' "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
What's happening to The Ulm 5 seems blatant injustice, right here in the western world, in the United Nations, in the European Union, in Germany.
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@keir @BenRiceM Because they fucked with the weapon industry. The Israeli weapon industry at that. We've had similar "interesting" happenings here in Sweden surrounding (I think) Elbit and that was only people being unwilling to help them load their cargo on ships.
Call me paranoid but very influential forces seem to be on the side of the country selling the most advanced cyber weapons and hacking tools in the world. Who are they blackmailing?
@aanee Indeed, in CRUNCH time, murder is a far more profitable industry, when you are principals in the armament industry. On top of that is that it's heavily fossil fuels laden, so being deeply rooted in these most wealthy industries in history...
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A delegation of Irish politicians also attended on Wednesday and were outraged by the lack of records and themselves were not allowed to bring in pen and paper. I truly hope they can put pressure on the German government or the EU to do *something* about how this entire case is being handled.
I’m no lawyer but it seems blatantly obvious that multiple human rights have been violated here.
@BenRiceM We have the right to live a peaceful and safe life. For three years we have lived in fear and terror, under constant bombardment, displacement, forced to evacuate our homes only to have them bombed before our eyes. The genocide continues to this day, and the shelling has not stopped. We long for one day to live in peace.
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM Solitary confinement for 10 months??!
Isn't that outright illegal, doesn't that equal torture..? -
@BenRiceM Now imagine your friend Daniel had violated the law in a country that doesn’t care much about human rights - like almost any country in Asia. And I mean that completely independently of his motives.
@danvanmoll @BenRiceM what
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Daniel and their co-defendants (the Ulm 5) are separated from their legal teams by a wall of bulletproof glass and they cannot communicate effectively. They have to use microphones, which seem to cut out frequently, or speak through a grill in the wall. And they must juggle listening to the lawyers, the judge, and translators simultaneously.
Every day in court, the 5 request that they be allowed sit with their lawyers and every day, the judge denies their requests.
@BenRiceM is this Pukin's Russia now? What have we become in Germany?
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@BenRiceM is this Pukin's Russia now? What have we become in Germany?
@canleaf this is what germany has always been.
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
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I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
@BenRiceM your thread reminds me of when I read up on the RAF trial in the 70s.
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@BenRiceM what the fuck, that was a wild thread.
Not even nazis have been treated this harshly.
@tragivictoria @BenRiceM Nazis have always been treated like the favorite children who just have to learn and can do no wrong, meanwhile anyone against fascism have always been treated like the violent murderers fascists always prove to be. Even then, fascists are babied because every government secretly wants to have the power that fascism gives.
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@BenRiceM I did not know of this case, hasn't been in the news in Belgium or I missed it. This is outrageous, violating the rights of young people with ideals in such a way. I hope justice and common sense will prevail, soon. Thank you for sharing this.
@random_sapiens @BenRiceM "Common sense" is the tool of the oppressor, nothing else, btw.
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Just this week I happened to read the preamble text of the United Nations' "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
What's happening to The Ulm 5 seems blatant injustice, right here in the western world, in the United Nations, in the European Union, in Germany.
@johnlogic @BenRiceM I didn't know anything about the Ulm 5 but it sure sounds like their treatment is breaking the human rights.
They could have been in prison and still treated in a humane way. -
I’m just back from a trip to Germany to visit one of my closest friends, Daniel, who’s been held in solitary confinement 23h a day for the past ten months in a 2 × 5m cell.
They get one hour of visitation per month.
From a Guardian article:
"Court representatives have said the conditions of the defendants’ detention are warranted based on the severity of the charges against them."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/24/irish-pm-germany-pro-palestinian-activists-trial-ulm-5
I can't think of any way that statement can be true. They seem to be saying that the more severe the unproven charges are, the more punitive the pretrial detention can be.
Is there a component of summary judgement operating here, outside of the offense for which they will be tried?
