Even a cardiac arrest could no longer be ruled out: Maja T. ended their refusal to eat in a Hungarian prison hospital. The German Foreign Minister announced a new initiative to speak with Hungary.
After 40 days without solid food, the German citizen Maja T. has ended their hunger strike in Hungarian custody. ‘I don’t want to put any further strain on my health, because I feel that if I don’t turn back now, it will soon be too late,’ they said in a statement on Monday.
The non-binary Thuringian is still in the prison hospital near the Romanian border. According to those close to them, their heart rate has fallen below 30 in the meantime and permanent organ damage is possible. Hungarian authorities are therefore said to have considered using a pacemaker and force-feeding them, reported Wolfram Jarosch, T.’s father, during a protest march from Jena to Berlin last week.
T. started the hunger strike at the beginning of June in order to force a judicial review of the prison conditions – and now describes this as ‘naive’. Even in hospital, the solitary confinement continued, now even without any leisure activities. Hungary’s judiciary has so far rejected applications for relief from detention. At the weekend, Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (Christian Democratic Union) announced that he wanted to talk to the Hungarian government again about this. At the same time, he emphasised the seriousness of the allegations: together with other accused and suspects, Maja T. is alleged to have been involved in attacks on right-wing extremists in Budapest in February 2023. At the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, they should be imprisoned for 24 years.
“My demands remain unchanged! What is needed is a transfer back to Germany or house arrest and a constitutional trial,” reads T.’s statement. They expect ‘an offer of compensation’ from those responsible for the unlawful extradition. The non-binary was handed over to Hungary a year ago, although the Federal Constitutional Court had prohibited this in summary proceedings on the same day.
T. sends thanks to everyone ‘who is standing by our side’. The BASC support group wrote on Monday: ‘As a solidarity committee, Maja’s family and supporters, we are proud of Maja.’ On the same day, the State Security Department of the Saxony Criminal Police Office also commented on the various support campaigns for the accused in the so-called Budapest complex. Its director sees this as an attempt to ‘reverse the perpetrator-victim role’. According to him, Maja T. is being turned into a ‘canvas’ for various political issues. In view of their critical state of health, the police office also warned of a ‘further radicalisation of the solidarity campaign’.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Maja T. before the start of their hunger strike in the hall of the municipal court in Budapest (Dunya Collective).
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