OTHER EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS HAVE REFUSED TO HONOUR EXTRADITION REQUESTS FROM
HUNGARY FOR ANTIFASCIST ACTIVISTS, CITING CONCERNS FOR THEIR SAFETY AND
WELLBEING
~ punkacademic ~
Antifascist Maja T today began a hunger strike protesting their treatment by
Hungarian judicial authorities since their extradition from Germany last
year. Whilst in custody in Hungary, Maja, who identifies as non-binary, has been
subjected to inhumane conditions, including several months of constant video
surveillance, persistent solitary confinement, and ‘intimate searches’ during
which they have been forced to undress. Visits have been sporadic, food has been
inadequate, and their cell is plagued with bedbugs and cockroaches.
Maja has been in pretrial detention in Hungary since June 2024. In a statement
released by the Budapest Antifascist Solidarity Committee they stated they are
“no longer prepared to endure this intolerable situation and wait for a
decisions from a justice system that has systematically violated my rights over
last few months”. Maja was due to receive a judicial ruling on Wednesday (4th
June) as to whether their pretrial detention would be converted to house arrest,
only for the hearing to be postponed until the 20th, triggering the decision to
go on hunger strike.
Maja’s extradition was based on a European Arrest Warrant issued by Hungarian
authorities for an alleged attack on neo-Nazis at the far-right ‘Day of Honour’
commemoration in Budapest in 2023. The event is an annual commemoration of an
attempt by members of the Waffen-SS and Hungarian collaborators to break a Red
Army siege towards the conclusion of the Second World War.
Maja was extradited despite the intervention of the German Federal
Constitutional Court, which had concerns with regard to Maja’s potential
treatment. The extradition was initially ruled on by the Berlin regional court,
with the German authorities expediting Maja’s transfer before the Federal
Constitutional Court was able to rule on an injunction.
In January, Maja was offered a plea deal carrying a fourteen year jail sentence.
As it stands, they face up to twenty-four years in prison.
Maja’s arrest, extradition, and current plight exist in a context of a clampdown
on antifascist action in Germany, particularly in the East. Maja was pursued by
the SoKo LinX taskforce of the Saxon Criminal Police, and transferred in the
middle of the night despite a pending injunction, with the attendance of riot
police and counter-terrorism officers despite (as the Saxon authorities later
admitted) no credible threat.
Other European governments have refused to honour extradition requests from
Hungary for antifascist activists, citing concerns for their safety and
wellbeing. Hungary’s persecution of the LGBTQ+ community was today condemned by
a senior legal scholar at the European Court of Justice. Hungary in 2022 was
downgraded by the EU Parliament from a democracy to an authoritarian state, but
continues to have access to the European Arrest Warrant system.
These wider concerns are echoed by Maja, who in their declaration concluded that
“no more people should be extradited to Hungary”. A further activist, Zaid from
Nuremberg, remains under threat of extradition.
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