Inside the Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. Trial #30: Evidence Hidden in the Trash
TRIAL OF TWANA H.S. AND ASIA R.A.
Higher Regional Court – Munich, Germany
Trial Monitoring Summary #30
Hearing Date: May 5, 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 30th trial monitoring report details day 56 of the trial of Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in Munich, Germany. This week, the Court read out the German Parliament Directive on the political recognition of the genocide against the Yazidis, various police protocols documenting Twana H.S.’s possession of items that violated his custody conditions, and the federally registered personal information [Bundeszentralregister] of both of the Accused. Besides, the Court viewed a translated segment of P2’s UNITAD hearing and over 300 pictures that were found on Twana H.S.’s smartphone.
Day 56 – May 5, 2026
This trial day, which started 30 minutes delayed, was introduced with the announcement of the Presiding Judge that only open court readings and viewings were on the agenda, and that no witness will be heard. As such, the Presiding Judge began to read out the German Parliament Directive [Bundestagsdrucksache] on the political recognition of the genocide against the Yazidis from January 18, 2023. The directive, which is publicly available, honored the victims, acknowledged the systematic campaign of murder, enslavement, forced conversion, sexual violence, and destruction aimed at eliminating the Yazidi community, and recognized the particular suffering of women and children. It also emphasized that the genocide’s consequences continue today through displacement, missing persons, trauma, insecurity, and obstacles to returning home. Beyond political recognition, the directive called on the German government to strengthen international justice efforts, prosecute ISIS perpetrators, support documentation of crimes, assist survivors and displaced persons, promote reconstruction and stability in the Sinjar region, protect the rights of Yazidi communities worldwide, maintain asylum protections, and foster education, remembrance, and public awareness of the genocide. The broader meaning of the directive was that Germany, which today houses the largest Yazidi diaspora worldwide, accepts a special moral and political responsibility - shaped by its own historical experience with genocide - to ensure remembrance, accountability, support for survivors, and prevention of similar crimes against vulnerable minorities in the future. Furthermore, the directive urged the Iraqi government to include genocide into its own criminal code, but to refrain from any concept of death penalty, promised to support the Iraqi authorities with witness search as well as protection, to help with reparation payments and to look after children that were born out of ISIS’ sexual violence against Yazidis. Germany announced its support for the establishment of a Yazidi documentation center in both Germany and Iraq or the Kurdish territories, and hinted to the funding of further research projects on related topics. Following this directive, the Presiding Judge read out the accompanying parliamentary discussion and its protocol.
Next, the Court read out several protocols of the Criminal Investigative Division of the police of the city of Nuremberg, which is close to the town of [redacted location] where the Accused Twana H.S. lived under strict conditions in 2023. The protocols were from August and September of 2023 and detailed the results of a police search of Twana H.S.’s single occupancy room [redacted information] in a monitored housing unit on [redacted information] in [redacted location], Bavaria. The police had the perception that Twana H.S. violated his monitored living conditions and found various suspicious items of interest. Specifically, the report noted that a smartphone including a sim card, a 256 GB USB-stick, a portable security camera, and a car tire repair kit were found in his room. The tire repair kit was found in his backpack and consisted of two 7 cm long shafts that could have the ability to be violently employed, just like a sharp knife. Since Twana H.S. did not own a car or a bicycle, an intended misuse of this repair kit seemed likely, according to the police report, the Presiding Judge read out. Besides, the police found 1.175 € in his room and noted that the smartphone, which was turned on, was hidden in a trash can. Twana H.S. refused to give out the code to the phone and did not sign any of the protocols the police presented him with after the search. When the police entered the room, the security camera was mounted towards the only window of the room, with the lens pointing to the outside.
According to the police, during the search, Twana H.S. stood out by his “defensive and verbally offensive” behavior. Out of any context, he shouted to have been “tortured and poisoned” and that “the state wants to take revenge” on him, although he “is not even a danger to the BRD [the Federal Republic of Germany].” Later on, the report specified that the police were able to read out Twana H.S.’s smartphone and found 206 user accounts, of which 170 had been deleted. Specifically, Twana H.S. was logged into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, PayPal, Google Drive, and Google Mail, for example, usually with the username “[redacted information].” On Instagram, his account was in private mode and had zero followers, while he followed three accounts. Twana H.S.’s Facebook account, on which he introduced himself as “single” and “from Nuremberg,” was connected with 68 “friends” and shared four pictures. Most of the Facebook connections were identified as ISIS members, of which some posted beheading videos on their accounts. Furthermore, the police found 793 saved contacts on his phone, 32 phone call protocols, 59.000 pictures, of which 190 were identified as “ISIS-related,” and 900 videos, of which 26 showed ISIS-content. According to the police, the WhatsApp- and other messenger chats showed no relevance to his criminal file. The police noted, however, that Twana H.S. chatted on various Muslim dating sites. The found USB-stick had no suspicious material saved on it, but only some television shows and action movies. Finally, no memory card belonging to the security camera was found, the protocols concluded.
When the Presiding Judge completed this reading, Twana H.S. loudly commented that “everything is a lie.” While his Defense Team tried to calm him down, the Defense of Asia R.A. asked for a restroom break, which the Court granted.
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[20-minutes-break]
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After the break, the Court read out personal information regarding Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. from the Federal Criminal Record System [Bundeszentralregister], which showed that Twana H.S. was sentenced twice and appeared under four different dates of birth, various places of origin and five variations of his name in the files. Asia R.A. was sentenced once and only had two different entries with regards to her date of birth.
Before the Presiding Judge interrupted the hearing for the lunch break, he informed the Defense that the trial day scheduled for May 8 could be canceled if no new motions or statements can be expected from the Defense, as from the Court’s point of view, the taking of evidence will have been completed after this very trial day. Subsequently, the Defense agreed to cancel the May 8 hearing.
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[60-minutes-break]
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After the lunch break, the Court presented 20 photographs from the Nuremberg police’s 2023 search of Twana H.S.’s room in an open court viewing. The photographs, which were not further discussed by any parties to the proceedings, showed the [redacted information] on the door of Twana H.S.’s room, a fridge next to the door, loose documents on the fridge, various boxes, a view into the room with a television, a dining table, a bed and two metal closets, detailed shots of the closets, the trash can with the smartphone inside, the location of the trash can next to the door, a sheet of paper with the names Pierre Vogel and Abu Baraa [note: both are prominent and often as Islamist categorized Muslim preachers with a large following on German social media] and two numbers written on it, a sheet of paper with an unidentifiable e-mail address written on it, a detailed shot of the television, the security camera, another closet, a shelf, the sim card, the mount of the sim card, the packaging of the sim card, and the tire repair kit.
Next, the Court announced the viewing of the video recording of P2’s UNITAD hearing, specifically from minute 25:10 to minute 28:30, and the accompanying reading of a new translation by court interpreter C3, which was prepared on May 3. This had been requested by the Defense of Twana H.S. on trial day 54 [for the details of this testimony, see Trial Report #28]. The recording showed a Zoom call with three call windows, of which only a window labelled with UNITAD investigator W7’s name was visible, exclusively showing P2 on screen. The other two call windows were labeled with “BKA” [German Federal Criminal Police Office] and “[redacted name],” F135. The recording showed P2 who sat on a beige couch and calmly spoke while being asked questions by a man, which were interpreted by a woman. The three minutes shown of the UNITAD hearing were about P2’s narration of her first night in Abu and Um Abdallah’s home and specified her and Abu Abdallah’s encounter with P1. The Court presented the recording in small sections and read out C3’s translation in reference to the just viewed part of the video. According to the translation, P2 testified that P1 “slept in the same room by Abu Abdallah on the first night” when she arrived. P2 specified, however, that she “was not with them.” To the question of the UNITAD investigator what P2 means when she said, “slept by Abu Abdallah,” P2 replied that she “does not know.” She added that she “woke up in the morning and saw that Abu Abdallah’s mattress had been moved very close to P1’s mattress, so that they basically laid together.” When she “saw this,” she “got scared.” The recording was left uncommented by the Persecution and Defense. The recording was left uncommented by the Persecution and Defense.
Finally, the Court presented pictures from Twana H.S.’s confiscated smartphone in an open court viewing. The pictures, which mostly depicted groups of masked men, ISIS flags, and individuals with weapons, were presented on 40 paper sheets with eight pictures on each sheet. Although the pictures included short descriptions, these were not read out by the Court. Just like with the UNITAD recording, this viewing was left uncommented by all parties to the proceedings.
With the Presiding Judge’s announcement that the May 8 hearing will be cancelled and that the subsequent closing argument of the Persecution will likely last eight hours, the proceedings were adjourned at 1:20 PM.
The next trial day will be on May 12, 2026, at 9:30 AM.
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