“I’m terrified” – Mother of Irish citizen on trial in Germany says government has abandoned them

Daniel Tatlow-Devally is facing five years in prison for property damage.

Daniel Tatlow-Devally is currently held in prison in Ulm, held in 23-hour solitary confinement, with just two 30-minute visits per month. The trial could potentially last 16 months in these conditions.

Devally and four other Palestine activists took part in a direct action at Elbit Systems in Ulm, Germany in September last year. Elbit Systems Germany is a 100% owned subsidiary of Elbit Israel, responsible for over 80% of the weapons used in the Gaza genocide.

"If you're a mum and you're seeing your child in court, that's not something anybody wants to see," said Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Daniel's mum.

"It's disturbing on a whole other level."

Despite multiple calls from TDs and the family, no official Irish government observer has been sent to watch the trial.

Golden says she is concerned that politics has taken precedence over human rights.

"We are fearing that a little bit of stonewalling might be going on because we were getting wonderful support from the consulate," she said.

"Since we started asking for trial observation, they have shut us down."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee says she can "ensure that there is fair oversight of this trial."

Daniel's mother says this is impossible without observation.

"There is no way that they can have direct oversight of this trial, other than by sending somebody to watch it, she's making a claim that's not true in the Dail, and I find that very disturbing.

"A German Parliament MP was was in court yesterday, sitting next to me, and I was listening to all her kind of exclamations of of shock and horror...they're seeing the enactment of a show trial.

"Five people who have no previous convictions, who didn't engage in any violence against people of any kind, and aren't even alleged to have done so by the prosecutor."

The defendants are held as "dangerous criminals" she added. They are behind in a bullet-proof glass cage during court, while the public observers are not allowed to have a pen to take any notes because the judge has declared that there's risk that the public would use a pen as weapon.

Mimi says that because she has been separated from her child for so long, it is a small comfort to get to see them in court.

"We watch one another a lot through the days, the days in court are actually strangely comfortingly a shared experience we have.

"I'm able to spend time with Daniel, to watch Daniel's face, they will blow me kisses or do hearts with their hands.

"So I'm able to see how they're feeling, and I'm also able to be reassured that they're very much themselves.

"Daniel's a very sort of funny, dry, thoughtful person, and all of that is really evidenced still in their face."

A cross-party delegation is People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger TD, Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell, Labour Party TD Duncan Smith, Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson, and Fine Gael TD Barry Ward went to the trial last week and all expressed concerns about how the trial has been carried out.

A petition to support Daniel can be found here.