Three members of the Bundestag visited anti-fascist Maja T., who is being held in Hungary. They are calling for a political reappraisal and her return to Germany.
An inter-party delegation of three members of the German Bundestag – Sebastian Roloff (SPD), Helge Limburg (Greens) and Luke Hoß (Die Linke) – visited the Thuringian anti-fascist Maja T. in a Hungarian prison hospital on Monday and reported on the visit in a press conference on Tuesday. The initiative came from the left-wing parliamentary group after T. ended a 40-day hunger strike last week.
A year ago, the non-binary activist was taken from Dresden prison to Hungary by police helicopter in a night-time blitz. The Berlin Court of Appeal authorised the extradition, but the following day the Federal Constitutional Court declared it unlawful in summary proceedings – albeit too late. The measure was also categorised as contrary to fundamental rights and a violation of the prohibition of torture in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in subsequent proceedings on the merits.
The two-hour visit by the three MPs confirmed reports of appalling prison conditions for Maja T. – although Hungary had promised the opposite in the extradition proceedings at the request of the Court of Appeal. The Hungarian guarantees of human rights-compliant treatment given before the extradition were ‘worth nothing’, said Luke Hoß. The imprisoned activist is ‘writing their fingers to the bone’, for example, as no typewriter is authorised. He was also denied his wish to catch up on his A-levels so that he could start a distance learning programme after being sentenced to prison.
Commenting on the circumstances of the summary extradition, Mr Limburg said: ‘I am not aware of any comparable case in which a transfer to another European state has taken place at this speed.’ The timing suggests that the Federal Constitutional Court’s urgent decision was pre-empted.
A recent report in the ‘Taz’ newspaper confirms this: Berlin and Saxony planned the extradition in ‘strict secrecy’ eight days before the court hearing in order to prevent ‘violent protests’. While all the authorities were informed immediately, Maja’s defence lawyers only found out about the court decision after work. Maja was then taken out of her cell at 2 a.m. – their father Wolfram Jarosch was also unaware of this and waited in vain outside the prison in Dresden in the early morning.
The MPs are now calling for a comprehensive political investigation into the circumstances. The states of Saxony and Berlin involved must contribute to the clarification, they claim. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) is being called upon to do more to ensure a return transfer.
The German government has ‘understood the seriousness of the situation’, surmised SPD politician Roloff. On Tuesday last week, Géza Andreas von Geyr, a State Secretary at the Federal Foreign Office, is said to have made representations to the government in Budapest. However, Julia Gross, German ambassador in Budapest, speaks a different language on X: according to her, von Geyr met with Hungarian ministers and a state secretary. ‘His message: unity is key,’ writes the German diplomat.
The Left Party wants to continue its visits to Maja T. so that ‘attention does not diminish’ even in the summer slump, says Hoß. Limburg and Roloff also announced further trips to Hungary to keep up the pressure on the federal government.
Meanwhile, father Wolfram Jarosch is also continuing to campaign for a return. ‘I call on the German Foreign Minister, Dr Wadephuhl, and the President of Hungary, Dr Sulyok Tamás, to end Maja’s solitary confinement and allow her to be returned to Germany immediately,’ the biology teacher from Jena wrote on Monday. Jarosch had already submitted a petition with over 100,000 signatures to the German Foreign Office. He described the trial in Hungary as ‘revenge justice’.
After a protest march on foot from Jena to Berlin, Jarosch is currently walking 800 kilometres from Dresden to Budapest, in hunger – as a ‘commitment to justice’. He will arrive in Austria’s capital on Thursday and then continue via Bratislava to Budapest.
So far, Jarosch has also hit a brick wall with the Hungarian authorities: an application to release Maja T. to house arrest was rejected by the Budapest City Court on Friday, as the accused ‘shows not the slightest sign of voluntary submission’. Supporters and their father had already rented a flat for her possible release from prison and declared that they would be able to pay bail.
However, the court suspected that Maja T. was still likely to flee or even repeat offences, as she was “involved in left-wing structures that also collected money”, the BASC solidarity group reported. Family support and public rallies also proved this, the court explains. In addition, the accused did not voluntarily surrender in Germany and publicly emphasised that Hungary was not responsible due to the illegal extradition. According to this, the court says, the high sentence of up to 24 years increases the risk that Maja T. will evade the proceedings – only pre-trial detention can counteract this.
Published in German in ‘nd’.
Image: Members of the Bundestag Luke Hoß, Sebastian Roloff and Helge Limburg (from left to right) provided information in Berlin on Tuesday.
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