A cross-party group of politicians that visited Dubliner Daniel Tatlow-Devally, who is on trial in Germany for trespassing and criminal damage to an Israeli-owned arms factory, has renewed calls for the Department of Foreign Affairs to send an observer to proceedings.The seven-member delegation also raised concerns about the conduct of the trial and the conditions in which the Irishman is detained.People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell and MEP Lynn Boylan, Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, Barry Ward of Fine Gael, Duncan Smith of Labour and Senator Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats visited the 32-year-old in prison in the southwestern city of Ulm, where he has been in custody for 318 days.They also attended Wednesday’s session of proceedings in Stuttgart against the 32-year-old and four other Berlin-based activists – two Germans, a UK and a Spanish citizen – at the factory in Ulm on September 8th. Along with trespassing, they are charged with causing an estimated €1 million in damage to the Elbit Systems plant, membership of a criminal organisation and use of symbols linked to Hamas – classified in Germany as a terrorist organisation. If convicted, they could face up to five years in prison.At a press conference in Dublin on Thursday, TDs described the proceedings as a “show trial”. Tatlow-Devally’s father Conor, who also attended, said proceedings reflected a “huge level” of fear among the German people that “anything puncturing their investment and atonement by backing Israel, right or wrong ... is actually a threatening feeling for them”.Social Democrats foreign affairs spokeswoman Pamela Stephenson said having an observer is considered “interference”. However, Ireland and all EU members have signed up to the European Union Human Rights Defenders Guidelines, which includes “recommendation for trial observation”.She said: “This idea that we don’t do it because it’s an EU member state and it’s an ally in Europe suggests this two-tier approach, that we will hold some countries to account for their human rights record, for their standards and rule of law, but we won’t hold other countries to account.”Daniel’s father Conor said proceedings reflected a 'huge level' of fear among the German people that 'anything puncturing their investment and atonement by backing Israel, right or wrong... is actually a threatening feeling for them'. Photograph : Sam Boal/Collins Photos The five admit to the break-in. They filmed and posted online clips of themselves smashing up the factory as part of a protest against the involvement of its ultimate owner, Elbit Systems, in Israel’s war in Gaza.But Tatlow-Devally told the trial in May the group was motivated by “urgent humanitarian concerns” and, by damaging Elbit production capacity in Germany, wanted to “make a fuss ... in the hope to at least interrupt” its deliveries to Israel.Boyd Barrett said they were shocked by the conditions in which he was detained, spending “23 hours a day locked up on his own, [with] very little access to exercise or recreation”. “Initially, he was behind a glass cage when he was meeting family members”, a situation they believed changed after Irish politicians contacted the German ambassador.Ward, a Government backbencher and barrister, described the proceedings as a “show trial”. He said the dispute was not about “the facts of what happened, [but] more about the character of what happened”. “I do have difficulty with what I saw as being far short of the minimum standards you expect for fair trial.” Daniel Tatlow-Devally (32), an Irish citizen who is currently on remand in the southern German town of Ulm. Photograph: Tatlow-Devally family Similar arrangements are in place in the courtroom next door with an identical layout, where nine defendants are accused of planning a coup against the German state.The cases are categorised as the same “but they are incomparable”, he said.The TDs also criticised the failure to allow recording and transcriptions of the proceedings. Germany forbids trail recordings and full transcripts, with very rare exceptions.Farrell said, in the trial, the five are unable to directly speak to their lawyers, and they are “effectively shouting through a wall to their lawyers, or through a microphone”.All five defendants wear headphones to follow proceedings, either in German or via a simultaneous translation, and have an additional microphone. But Farrell, who speaks German, said the translation was incorrect in parts, citing an example of “microphones” being translated as “chairs”.Labour’s Duncan Smith said they needed to get the message across “urgently and stridently” that more attention and pressure is needed on the trial. “It’s not getting attention in Germany, deliberately so, so we need to provide it here and we’re getting starting to get German parliamentarians contacting us,” he said.Boyd Barrett said the defence said their visit made some difference regarding the conduct of the trial, and increased attention in Germany and resulted in a member of the Bundestag, Marcel Bauer of Die Linke (The Left) party, attending the court.