Antifa trial in Budapest: “Don’t let yourself be intimidated!”

Maja T. smiles as the three masked judicial guards lead the nonbinary Thuringian into the room of the Higher Administrative Court in Budapest on Wednesday morning - tied to a chain. Maja T. winks at friends and relatives in the hall and tries to wave despite the handcuffs. Then judge Géza Szalai delivers the verdict. The result of the appeal hearing: seven years in prison. One year less than the first trial in Budapest.

Maja T. shows no emotion, just stares at the judge's bench and takes notes as the verdict is given. The verdict is the temporary end of an odyssey. Two and a half years in prison under adverse circumstances in Hungary. From now on, with the legally binding conclusion, a transfer back to Germany is possible. The trial is a test case for the Hungarian justice system under the new government of Péter Magyar. A judiciary that was repeatedly accused of lacking independence during the era of autocrat Viktor Orbán.

Maja T. was arrested by investigators in Berlin in December 2023. The accusation: involvement in two serious attacks in February 2023 on right-wing extremists in Budapest. As in previous years, the neo-Nazis had gathered there for a Europe-wide march, the “Day of Honor”. One of the last battles of the Wehrmacht and its Hungarian allies at the end of the Second World War is glorified there. Several of the right-wing extremists were attacked on the sidelines by masked people, including with batons, and some were seriously injured.

Investigators saw the German “Antifa Ost” at work here – and arrested Maja T. as the first accused. But the verdict in Budapest remains one that should never have been made there. The Federal Constitutional Court subsequently declared the extradition of Maja T. to Hungary in June 2024 to be unlawful. Because the Berlin Court of Appeal did not sufficiently examine the prison conditions for non-binary people in Hungary. With a concerted nighttime blitz, Berlin and Saxon security authorities got Maja T. out of the country and with them facts.

Later, Maja T. actually complained about isolation, humiliation or sleep deprivation in Hungarian prison and therefore went on a 40-day hunger strike. This February, T. was sentenced to eight years in prison in Budapest. At that time, all sides had lodged an appeal while they were still in the room. The public prosecutor's office demanded at least 13 years in prison and Maja T. demanded an acquittal. The defense lawyers criticized procedural errors - and above all that there was no evidence that Maja T. was really involved.

The appeal court under Judge Szalai is now not following either side. There were no significant legal errors in the first trial, explains Szalai in the reasons for the verdict, which lasted several hours. All essential documents were translated, Maja T. was able to stand trial even during the hunger strike, and the collection of evidence was carried out carefully. And Szalai, like the first Budapest court, refers to surveillance videos that are said to show Maja T. with other suspects in Budapest during the time of the crime and also during at least one attack.

Maja T. can be seen there kicking, but missing the victim, the judge explains. Unlike the sentence in the first instance, this act can only be convicted as attempted bodily harm and Maja T. can only be convicted as an accomplice - hence the sentence reduced by one year. But Szalai also attributes Maja T. to “Antifa East”, pointing to the group’s training and conspiratorial behavior – and the sometimes serious injuries suffered by the victims. One victim's facial skull was smashed in.

“It was fortunate that no death occurred,” emphasizes the judge. “Regardless of whether something like this comes from the left or the right, it is simply not permitted.” In addition, he sees no remorse, only whitewashing of the actions. That’s why a judgment with “certain severity” is needed. At the same time, the court announced the appeal judgment against two other convicts who were tried in absentia, which is possible in Hungary: the Berliner Anna M. and the Italian Gabriele M. They are also said to have been present during the attacks. Anna M. remains in prison for two years, suspended on probation. Gabriele M. receives six instead of seven years in prison.

Dozens of Maja T.'s friends and relatives also traveled to the hearing. Other supporters were traveling on a bus from Germany - which, however, was stopped by the federal police that night at the German-Czech border and all passengers were checked. Three of them were prevented from continuing their journey because they could “damage the reputation of the Federal Republic abroad”. Ultimately, the supporters only reach the process when it is about to end.

Wolfram Jarosch, Maja T.'s father, sits in the hall directly behind his child. Even in the first trial, he had missed almost no day of the trial. The verdict is “still disproportionately harsh,” complains Jarosch. The whole case remains a “scandal”: the illegal extradition, the solitary confinement in Hungary, the “overly harsh” sentence in Hungary. “Now Maja has to come back to Germany immediately.”

Two German MPs also arrived. The leftist Martin Schirdewan would have considered a significant correction to the verdict from the first “show trial” necessary. He demands: “Maja T. must not be held unnecessarily in Hungary for another day.” The federal government must “immediately exhaust all options to achieve the return to Germany”. And Green MP Helge Limburg is calling for reparations: “This unconstitutional situation must be ended as quickly as possible.”

Limburg also demands disciplinary consequences for the LKA Saxony. “It must not happen again that the police and judiciary deliberately outsmart the Federal Constitutional Court.” Sven Richwin, Maja T.'s German lawyer, speaks of a “double-edged verdict” on site. On the one hand, an annulment of the verdict and a new trial would have been correct because of the procedural errors - on the other hand, Maja T.'s prison time in Hungary would have been extended further. And Richwin, his German colleague Maik Elster and Maja T.'s Hungarian lawyer Tamas Bajaky are still petitioning the court to have Maja T. returned to Germany - and the court agrees to the request.

“This must now be implemented very quickly,” demands Richwin. In addition, the adverse prison conditions in Hungary would have to be taken into account with greater weight in the remaining German sentence. How quickly this return takes place is now a further test for the Hungarian justice system. Under Orbán, who classified “Antifa Ost” as a terrorist group, there were fears that this transfer would have been delayed.

Hungary had already promised before the extradition that Maja T. could serve her sentence in Germany - and this is also provided for under European law. Under the new Hungarian government of Péter Magyar, a constitutional reform was recently introduced and term limits on the Constitutional Court - after which several judges, some of whom were considered loyal to Orbán, had to vacate their posts.

In Germany, the Thuringian justice system would be responsible for the return and negotiations with Hungary because Maja T.'s last place of residence was in Jena. When asked by taz, the Foreign Office of Johann Wadephul (CDU) left it open whether and how it would support the transfer. Officials only said that the embassy in Budapest would continue to provide consular support to Maja T.. An embassy representative was in court on Wednesday.

When Judge Géza Szalai finally ended the day of the trial on Wednesday, Maja T. was led away by the security guards to applause from her supporters. “Don’t let yourself be intimidated,” the brother shouts to Maja T. in the court hallway. “Neither do you,” Maja T. calls back and smiles again. Then Maja T. is driven back to the Budapest prison in the prison van with squealing tires. Maybe for the last time.