Against the silence, on all sides: In addition to the statement of the solidarity structures

We would like to say a few words about the death of the defendant Henry. We are largely referring to thisStatement from the solidarity structuresdated September 21, 2026, which we also signed. It is important for us to say that this is an addition and neither a criticism nor a distancing from the text. 
The statement makes it clear that there are several issues at stake here: it is about the violence of the repressive apparatus against a person who is apparently mentally unstable, and about the inhumane, negligent treatment that he received in court and which probably contributed to his decision to kill himself. And it's obviously also about patriarchal violence that this person perpetrated.

We want to be very clear: these two things are not directly related. 
Patriarchal violence, in all its forms, is omnipresent in society, and therefore just as brutal and unmistakable in our structures and communities. We encounter this violence everywhere and every day. The patriarchal, neoliberal disposition in its entirety is violent, leaves its mark on all subjects in this society and encourages and rewards patriarchal violence. This violence is not the exception, but the norm. Mental illness or states of emergency and what is subsumed under them are not the reason for the perpetration of violence, and many people who suffer, are ill or are declared to be mentally ill do not perpetrate these or other forms of violence. We want to prevent this connection from being closed.

We must plead again and again that we do not close our eyes to the exercise of violence in our structures. Far too often, patriarchal violence is tolerated, kept quiet, and declared to be someone else's problem. Romantic relationships are still a private matter, messing around is tolerated or admired. We must create a culture of shared criticism and reflection, in solidarity and with each other, but always with the will to change and the willingness to draw consequences if this reflection does not take place.

At the same time, the treatment of Henry, both in court and by the repressive authorities, leaves you speechless, even though it is so terribly normal. A court that denies therapy to a mentally unstable person so that he can obediently follow the entire process in the dock. A court that declares a person fit to stand trial who had recently tried to kill himself in a closed psychiatric ward, a court that allows the person sitting in front of him to probably be almost impossible to reach through a thick wall of medication, Mr. Kubista, Ms. David, Mr. Andreae, Mr. Frey, Ms. Horlacher and everyone else, they are complicit in the death of this person.
These are the same courts that banish people to forensic science for life, the same courts that force highly traumatized victims to face their perpetrators. It shows the state's inhumane treatment of those it judges, and it shows how this society commonly deals with mental illnesses and (supposed) deviations; Stigmatization, criminalization, pathologization and exclusion, from the community and from vital treatment. It is the same society that produces these psychological sufferings. Pressure to perform and standardize, the fight for everyday survival in this economy, the isolation of the bourgeois nuclear family and the romantic relationship with all its horrors and patriarchal violence. We condemn and despise everything about it.

What remains? 
A person has died. A person who was affected by repression for years and had to endure a politically motivated court case, and in this context could not expect even the slightest bit of empathy and accommodation from the court. The fact that this person committed violence that we firmly reject and condemn does not change our condemnation of the Senate's actions. It also shows without words how judges or experts appointed by them place themselves above the decisions of doctors, exercise their enormous power in the name of the so-called justice system and make it clear that it is not people who come first, but the will to punish.

Dealing with the entire situation raises many questions to which we ourselves have not yet found final, satisfactory answers. How do we collectively deal with exceptional psychological situations? How do we defend ourselves together against such attacks? In which places is transformative work done, where must it take place, and where cannot it take place? When is the right time for reflection and transparency, especially in the context of a procedure where defendants are absolutely dependent on solidarity and this is necessary to protect both the accused person and any co-accused and structures? How do we protect those affected in this context? And, last but not least - how do we maintain our empathy and judgment even when we reject and condemn a person's actions.

We must all continue to work together to shape our structures and communities so that we have to defend and arm ourselves together. We must not hide from our responsibility for one another. And  we should not forget that it is this state and its institutions that attack us and our solidarity with each other every day.

We hope and wish that we will all continue to work together to shape our structures and communities in the knowledge that we must defend and arm ourselves together.

Our sympathy goes out to all those who mourn, our anger goes out to this justice system and the structures that are responsible for all this violence.

Until everyone is free.
Nanuk solidarity group

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