Pro-Palestine activists face trial for attack on Israeli arms factory in Germany

Families say ‘Ulm 5’ have been detained under extreme prison conditions since arrest last September

Five pro-Palestinian activists are due to appear in court over an attack on an Israeli arms company in Germany, in proceedings their families say could become a “show trial”.

The Berlin-based activists, who are British, Irish, German and Spanish citizens, have been held in pre-trial detention in separate prisons since 8 September. They are alleged to have broken into Elbit Systems, in the city of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, in the early hours of 8 September, causing hundreds of thousands of euros of damage before calling the police to arrest them.