Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said that her department “engaged directly” with Irish activist Daniel Tatlow-Devally on the conditions in which he is being held.
Mr Tatlow-Devally is a member of the so-called “Ulm 5” on trial in Stuttgart, who were arrested by German police last September after they damaged equipment and spray-painted walls at the German office of Elbit Systems, an Israeli-headquartered firm that supplies weapons systems to the Israeli Defence Forces.
The five activists from Ireland, Germany, Spain and the UK have been charged with trespassing, the destruction of property worth approximately €1m at the office in the southern city of Ulm, and membership of an illegal organisation.
Ms McEntee said: “They’ve engaged directly with him on the conditions in which he’s being held, and again, they have reported to me that he has had access to visitors, that he has had the same treatment as any other person in his situation.”
The minister added: “So we just need to make sure that we monitor the situation but at the same time do respect the independence of the legal system in Germany as well.”
Ms McEntee said she is “very conscious and very aware” of the case, and that her department has been in contact with him and his family.
“They’ve met with him at least six times, and they’ve been engaging continuously with his family, we also have a specialist office set up with the embassy in Germany to make sure that whatever assistance is needed through our consular teams, that can be provided.”
Ms McEntee said that “if concerns need to be raised, they can be raised directly” with German authorities.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he raised the case of Mr Tatlow-Devally with Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Mr Martin said the Government has been providing “significant” consular support to Mr Tatlow-Devally, but added, “the German legal system is somewhat different”.
“I don’t want to comment on the actual case as it is live, but I did raise it.”