Inside the Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. Trial #26: What Children Are Made Of

TRIAL OF TWANA H.S. AND ASIA R.A.  

Higher Regional Court – Munich, Germany     

Trial Monitoring Summary #26    

Hearing Date: March 11 & 13, 2026

CAUTION: Some testimony may include graphic descriptions of torture, rape or other violent acts.     

Note that this summary is not a verbatim transcript of the trial; it is merely an unofficial summary of the proceedings.     

Throughout this summary, [information located in brackets are notes from our trial monitor] and “information placed in quotes are statements made by the witness, judges or counsel.” The names and identifying information of witnesses have been redacted.    

[Note: SJAC provides a summary of the proceedings while redacting certain details to protect witness privacy and to preserve the integrity of the trial.]   

SJAC’s 26^th trial monitoring report details days 49 and 50 of the trial of Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in Munich, Germany. On the first trial day of the week, F121, a brother of P2, who has lived with her since both of them have been freed, was questioned on his sister’s phyiscal and mental state as well as the experiences she had told F121. F121 explained that P2 still suffers from the consequences of her enslavement with the Accused. P2 had not just described the rape by Twana H.S. but also being treated very badly by Asia R.A.

On the second and third trial day of this week, the Juvenile Court Assistance Mrs. Setz presented her findings, detailing Asia R.A.’s story. She could neither recommend sentencing Asia R.A. in accordance with juvenile law or adult law. The Defense of Twana H.S. read a statement arguing that F121’s testimony could not support a conviction of Twana H.S. The Court then read out several documents.

Day 49 – March 11, 2026

On this trial day, the Court heard [redacted name], F121, the brother of Plaintiff [redacted name], P2. First, the Court explained the seating arrangement of the courtroom. While the witness did not recognize the two Accused, he identified them as Abu and Um Abdullah. F121 first recounted his own history of abduction, mirroring most of P2’s statements. He recounted how he had been separated first from an older sister and then from the rest of his family. F121 was enslaved and forced to do housework as well, while not being allowed to leave the house. Eventually F121was bought free for $2,500 in 2018, two months after P2 had been freed.

F121 recalled that P2 told him about her experience with the Accused, though it was hard for her as she kept crying while trying to tell it. F121 asked the room and the Accused how it was possible that P2 had been dressed and prettied up, asking which religion does something like that to a child. She had been a child and a virgin. P2 was treated like a slave. She told F121 that this treatment was fine as long as a marriage was not at stake. But then, F121 remembered, she was raped because she is a Yazidi. She did not go into detail, but told the witness that she had to pray according to the customs of ISIS, read the Quran and dress in accordance with the customs of ISIS.

P2 told F121 that the Accused had come to Syria through Turkey, but that they had started their journey in Germany. F121 did not remember whether P2 had told him if the Accused had married in Germany or Turkey.

The Court then asked what P2 told F121 about the sexual violence she had experienced. Defense Counsel for Twana H.S. Martin Kämpf asserted that F121 had not said that P2 had told him about any sexual violence. F121’s witness counsel asserted that he had already spoken about P2 experiencing sexual violence.

F121 then explained that they use the Arabic word ightisab [اغتصاب] instead of their own word, because they have heard that word too much. F121 also said that P1 had been raped as well. F121 then spoke about P2 and P1’s name being changed, though he did not know the name for P1.

F121 said that while P2 had told the whole family what had happened to her, they did not speak about it without her being present. F121 also did not speak to anyone else about P2’s time with the Accused. He added that P2 continues to struggle to sleep and has nightmares frequently.

***

[68-minutes-break]  

***

Upon return from the break, the expert psychologist [redacted name], E4, asked F121 to describe how P2 was a child. F121 recalled that P2 was the youngest girl in the family, always happy, and she loved school and wanted to achieve something in life. F121 closed by saying that now, after what has happened to P2, her life has been ended. As long as the siblings were together while captured by ISIS, P2 felt safe because her brother was with her.  When they were separated, they both became scared.

When both were freed, they lived in a refugee camp. P2 cried frequently, became angry quickly and ate very little, which resulted in rapid weight loss. P2 told F121 frequently that she wanted to be dead. P2 did not leave the tent unless another person was with her.

Next, the Defense Team of Twana H.S. asked several clarifying questions. P2 worked in the family’s clothing shop in the camp until it had to be closed. There was not much to do in the camp, but they had access to the internet. When asked how he had known the names of the Accused, F121 answered that P2 had told him their names. Defense Counsel Peter Ewald claimed that he still could not have known that the Accused were the people that had abused P2 unless she told him this. He added that in the case that she told him that she had recognized them in the courtroom, F121 and P2 had indeed talked about the content of the hearing. F121 said that P2 had described them to him, and she told him that Twana H.S. had looked at her and that that had been hard for her. P2 told F121 that Asia R.A. had cried and apologized to P2, but that P2 asked Asia R.A. how one could forgive being prepared for a rape in return.

The Defense Team then asked again whether F121 had had contact with any of the other witnesses in the case, which F121 denied. The Court corrected the Defense Team several times about what had been said already by the witness. The Defense Team then wanted to know why P2 was more likely to tell information to her sister [redacted name], F127. F121 answered that some details could be shared more openly between sisters than brother and sister. When asked to elaborate on P2 being quick to get angry, F121 replied that she got angry when the children of the family screamed or annoyed each other. When asked several questions on the specifics of the conversation, F121 recounted that the conversation about P2’s experience of sexual violence happened while they were in Iraq, and when their sister and F121 himself shared their own experiences from the captivity.

***

[17-minutes-break]  

***

After the break, the Defense Team of Twana H.S. asked about other men who had sexually assaulted P2. F121 could not remember ever being told of anyone else, but Twana H.S. F121 was subsequently dismissed.

Both Defense Teams then submitted a motion to extend the deadline on a statement in accordance with Sect. 257 GCCP.

The proceedings were adjourned at 3:00 PM.

The next trial day will be on March 13, 2026, at 9:30 AM.

Day 50 – March 13, 2026

The second trial day of this week started with the final assessment and recommendation of the juvenile court assistance Mrs. Setz.

Mrs. Setz first explained how she met Asia R.A. Asia R.A. told her about her childhood, that she had a good relationship with her father until he married a new woman. The woman had tried to break up the close relationship between Asia R.A. and her father. This went on until Asia R.A. decided to live with her grandmother and aunt instead. She lived 3 hours away from her father. Asia R.A. tried living with her father and his new family, but she did not want to stay long term as her stepmother continued to be cruel to her. When Asia R.A. turned 17 years, her father decided she would have to live with him and his family as she was now a young woman. A lot of young men asked her father to marry Asia, but she refused all of them until her stepmother told her that she would have to take the next one or she would have to marry a very old man. This man was Twana H.S.

Asia R.A. did not have a say in the life of their family. She was not allowed to leave their apartment on her own, and he told her that she was worthless without him. Her father visited every day and her half siblings once a week. While Asia R.A. did not tell her father how unhappy she was in the marriage, she felt like her father saw how unhappy she was. Asia R.A. did not mention another husband before her marriage with Twana H.S. to Mrs. Setz.

Twana H.S. gave Asia R.A. a German driver’s license which she used as identification in hospitals and with government authorities. Asia R.A. got pregnant one month after she married Twana H.S. She was constantly in pain until her daughter [redacted name], F1 was born in May 2016 in [redacted location]. It took 1,5 years until Asia R.A. got pregnant again. In that time, Twana H.S. got impatient.

The couple then moved to Syria two months after Asia R.A. had given birth and she did not have any opportunity to talk to her father after they had moved. According to Mrs. Setz, Asia was not even sure if her father was still alive. Twana H.S. decided that the family would move to Germany. He got documents for both of them. Asia R.A. thought that the documents were fake but found out that the IDs were authentic passports of Syrian citizens. When she asked Twana H.S. about them, he always dismissed her. Asia R.A. saw Twana H.S. pour a corrosive substance on his fingers before they got on the flight.

They arrived in [redacted location] and took the train to [redacted location] where Twana H.S. booked a hotel. Twana H.S. tried to convince Asia R.A. to move to Sweden instead, but Asia R.A. wanted to stay near her uncle [redacted name], W2. She was hoping that with her uncle near, it would be easier for her to leave Twana H.S. Their discussion lasted a week until Asia R.A. told Twana H.S. she was going to the German immigration authority, she could either go alone, or he could come with her. He told her they would submit an application through his lawyer, as his old file had to be reactivated. Asia R.A. felt like he wanted to stop her from going as he was afraid, she would not come back.

Subsequently, Twana H.S. was taken into custody, and both of them were questioned until midnight. Asia R.A. was then relocated to [redacted location], which was a very hard situation for her. She was pregnant and had a small child in a stroller. When she got to the central station in [redacted location], she had to carry the stroller up the stairs, and no one wanted to help her. She then met a lady who helped her find the refugee center. She lived in that center for six weeks until she was transferred to a center outside of [redacted location] with a lot of stairs. She asked to be transferred as she was still pregnant.

Asia R.A.’s son came at six months, and Asia R.A. was scared for him. Because Twana H.S. was imprisoned at this time, Asia R.A. gave their son a name by herself. She had been told that her son would not survive for long. Twana H.S. was very angry and told her to change their son's name. This proved to Asia R.A. that Twana H.S. was not a good person and solidified her decision to leave him. Twana H.S. gave his son [from his previous relationship] [redacted name], F3, Asia R.A.’s number. F3 tried to meddle in Asia R.A.’s life. After Twana H.S. was released from prison, Asia R.A. told Twana H.S. about her desire to separate, which Twana H.S. did not accept. Neither did he accept that children have to go to school by law in Germany. First, she told her children that they had to respect their father unconditionally until they visited him twice. After, she felt she could not ask this of her children. Asia R.A. told the police that if she was transferred from her current refugee housing, they should not give any information about her to Twana H.S. Asia R.A. reported that she tried to leave Twana H.S. for 5 years by then and that she tried to have an imam dissolve the marriage, but the man expected sexual favors in return.

At some point, the Child Welfare Services were concerned about the children in her care and offered Asia R.A. psychotherapy, which she attended and which helped her. Since she had been imprisoned, she has not had extensive contact with her children.

Mrs. Setz felt that Asia R.A. was a sincere person. Asia told Mrs. Setz that she was now free from Twana H.S., whom she called a criminal. At the time when they lived in Iraq, Asia R.A. seemed to have been a regular housewife with all the typical responsibilities. All in all, Mrs. Setz told the Court that she could not recommend sentencing Asia R.A. according to juvenile law, however, she could neither recommend that it should not apply.

The Court then asked several questions on hypothetical scenarios to which Mrs. Setz replied that she would like to take a day to research the effects on Asia R.A. and could not give an opinion immediately. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office also asked such questions, to which Mrs. Setz repeated herself, postponing a response.

When asked by the Defense of Asia R.A. what scale Mrs. Setz based her assessment on, she answered that the scale is from 1991.  

***

[19-minutes-break]  

***

After the break, Asia R.A.’s Defense Team added that Twana H.S. had hit Asia R.A. on the hand when she made a joke in the first week of their marriage.

Next, the Defense Team of Twana H.S. read a statement on the witness testimony of [redacted name], F121. The Defense pointed out that F121 had to correct himself on the issue whether he had talked with his sister about the proceedings, he identified the Accused even though he had never seen them, and that he could not present why his sister would talk with him about the one rape but not about other “girl-things,” including the other instances of rapes.

The Court then read a number of documents from the file. The first concerned Asia R.A.’s illegal immigration as well as the penalty she had to pay for the offense. After, the Court read a translated transcript of a call between [redacted name], F35, and [redacted name], P1. In it, F35 asked P1 to describe what the Accused had done to her. P1 described being burned badly down the whole front of her body by Asia R.A. P1 also told F35 that Asia R.A. had hit her so that P1 would sleep with Twana H.S. and forced her to undress and run naked through the house while snow was falling outside. Lastly, the Court read several chat histories that had already been translated, and retranslated [note: the Defense requested the re-translation because of several errors in an earlier version. For the details, see Trial Report #09].

The proceedings were adjourned at 12:14 PM.

The next trial day will be on March 27, 2026, at 9:30 AM.

___________________________

For more information or to provide feedback, please contact SJAC at [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to SJAC’s newsletter for updates on our work