@ronanmcd I think there’s a prevailing sentiment that Germany feels so much historical guilt over WW2 and the Holocaust that they have overcorrected into unwavering support for Israel

@sinabhfuil There’s a whole thread with lots of context!

@seachanged ha, I wonder if she’s any relation (Rice is my middle name)

@seachanged I mean, I could understand in theory if the defendants were considered an immediate physical threat, but like, they’ve never hurt or threatened a person. They’re hardly a flight risk if they volunteered to be arrested

@dockwalk Daniel uses they/them pronouns.

And if you read the whole thread you should get all the context you need

@Timothyswallehz I think as well as can be expected, thank you

As a small addendum, there’s a fundraiser to help Daniel’s family with all the costs associated and I’m sure they’d be incredibly grateful for any donations

Not the point of the thread, I just wanted to share my experience, but if you’re feeling fired up and ready to help, here’s an easy way to do so

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-daniels-family-attend-the-ulm-5-trial-in-germany

@elexia I think right now the hope is for independent observers to come and watch what’s happening and then hopefully there’s the opportunity to appeal or call for mistrial, etc

@temptoetiam not that I’m aware of with Daniel. I believe Crow, one of the 5, requested solitary because he was initially in a cell with others who were violent

@aral Thanks Aral, I know how much time and energy you’ve been putting into all of this over the last few years.

Spreading some awareness feels like the least I can do

It feels reductive to draw comparison to what is essentially children’s entertainment, but if you’ve ever wondered “what would I do in this situation?” I hope you have even a fraction of the courage of the Ulm 5.

If at this point, you still believe that Israel is justified in killing civilians and children, denying aid and medicine, demolishing hospitals, murdering journalists, and raping activists, I really don’t know what to say. But if you find yourself on that side of history, I hope that you can still see that Daniel and the others acted purely in defence of vulnerable people in a situation beyond desperate.

If that’s not heroism, I don’t know what is.

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.

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.

It’s hard to capture the disposition of the judge but “dismissive, belittling, and demonstrating a complete disregard for any semblance of a fair trial” start to come close.

The kind of person who would laugh at the hardship she has just caused, then roll her eyes and complain that she doesn’t get what all the fuss is about.

Repeatedly.

I grew up with a love of Star Wars and superheroes, the contemporary morality plays that teach you when to stand up for the defenceless, when to resist oppressive regimes. Andor showed, to widespread acclaim, the impact that a brave few can achieve when they’re willing to sacrifice everything. I gather than religious texts occasionally covers similar themes.

They request access to phone calls while in prison, and are denied.

They ask for handcuffs to be removed while in transit in police vehicles (and their ankles remain cuffed), for some of them up to three hours from their respective prisons to the court, and are denied.

They ask for an independent stenographer and a courtroom sketch artist, and are denied.

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.

I also attended some of the trial in Stuttgart which is an absolute farce.

There is no audio or video recording of the trail. Photographs are only permitted for two minutes before proceedings begin.

While journalists are allowed laptops, pen, and paper, public attendees (like myself) are not. Photos are allowed for two minutes at the start of each day. We cannot even bring water in. The only access to water is to cut your hands and drink from the taps in the bathrooms.

Security requires you to go through a metal detector, a full pat-down, and your shoes and the soles of your feet are checked. I was verbally sexually harassed going through security on Wednesday and I’ve heard others have had even worse experiences previously.

While my own experience is pretty immaterial given.. everything else, it did feel like a microcosm of the whole situation. Needlessly cruel, dehumanising, and intended to delay and frustrate.