On September 26, the verdict will be delivered against Hanna S. The charges related to attacks on neo-Nazis in Budapest range up to attempted murder. Yet there are significant doubts about her guilt.
In the trial against Hanna S. before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Munich, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on Monday demanded a nine-year prison sentence. According to the plea, she is to be convicted of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, and membership in a criminal organization. Originally, the indictment placed the alleged group of up to 20 people within the so-called Antifa East Complex in Germany. It is now claimed the group was founded for actions in Budapest – the Federal Prosecutor referred to this as “violence tourism.”
The trial in Munich was the first in Germany related to the so-called “Budapest Complex.” The judiciary accuses art student S. of having been involved in two of five attacks on alleged neo-Nazis in the Hungarian capital during the far-right “Day of Honor” in February 2023. The victims reportedly suffered head injuries from batons – in one case potentially fatal, according to the prosecution. Since six bystanders were also hit with pepper spray during the assaults, S. could also be convicted of bodily harm in this regard.
Hanna S. was arrested in Nuremberg in May 2024, and her trial began in February with a panel of five judges. Two of those attacked in Budapest were admitted as joint plaintiffs against S. – represented, among others, by a lawyer of NSU terrorist Ralf Wohlleben – and also presented pleas on Monday. The trial concerned, among other things, the severity of the injuries inflicted with a telescopic baton.
To this end, the prosecution summoned retired forensic physician Wolfgang Eisenmenger, who spoke about earlier experiments with similar striking tools and a metal skull covered with pigskin. “I do not recall a single fatality caused by a baton,” Eisenmenger said of his 20,000 forensic examinations. The defense noted on the penultimate day of the trial that aluminum telescopic batons, such as those that may have been used in Budapest, caused significantly less serious injuries – meaning comparisons with the metal skull and pigskin were not transferable.
According to investigators, the Saxony State Criminal Police Office – which is leading the case – linked Hanna S. to the proceedings partly via an exaggerated graffiti case in Nuremberg. Various witnesses and experts were summoned for the trial, including an independent cultural studies scholar who lectured on the Hungarian right wing and its ties to the state.
Over more than 30 days of hearings, the prosecution sought to prove that S. is identical with the “Unknown Female Person 15” captured in image material from Budapest. For this purpose, the court was shown hours of footage from trams and car dashcams, as well as from private cameras installed at the entrances of an Airbnb apartment and a café in Budapest.
Forensic scientist Dirk Labudde also testified, having biometrically measured the defendant against her will to compare her with public surveillance footage. A police “super recogniser” who had also compared the material failed to convince the court.
Yunus Ziyal, one of Hanna S.’s lawyers, considers the allegation of attempted murder entirely exaggerated. He also argues her presence in Budapest was never proven. The expert reports submitted in the trial – such as Labudde’s biometric comparison – were not scientifically validated and therefore unsuitable for identifying suspects, Ziyal told nd. The Munich solidarity group for Hanna S. likewise stated: “Mere circumstantial evidence is supposed to be enough to lock away an antifascist for nearly a decade.”
“A nine-year prison sentence is in no way proportionate to the events,” said Martin Schirdewan, chairman of The Left group in the European Parliament, on Monday. The fact that the trial was held before a court responsible for terrorism and state security amounted to a “prejudgment.” The radical left-wing solidarity organisation Red Aid made a similar statement: the state continued to “escalate, cementing, demonizing, and criminalizing antifascism as an enemy image,” its federal board declared.
Next Monday, the defense will present its closing arguments at the Munich Higher Regional Court. The verdict is scheduled to be delivered on September 26.
In May, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office also brought charges against seven further antifascists, some of whom are said to have been involved in actions in Budapest. In July, charges followed against six allegedly involved in the incidents. They had turned themselves in to the police in January and March and have since been held in pre-trial detention in various federal states.
The proceedings are to take place at the Higher Regional Courts of Düsseldorf and Dresden – the indictments have not yet been admitted. A seventh person from the latest wave of indictments – Syrian national Zaid A. – is to be extradited to Hungary for trial after turning himself in; he was the only one released from custody.
Published in German in ‘nd’.
Image: In her often textile-based works, art student Hanna S. addresses forms of oppression. Here she transforms the file on her police processing into a small shirt (Laila Auburger).
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