Germany’s highest court declares the fast-track extradition of an anti-fascist to Budapest unlawful. Their lawyer demands that they are released from prison, while a solidarity group and a left-wing politician demand their return.
On Thursday, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe upheld the constitutional complaint of an anti-fascist extradited to Hungary. Maja T., who identifies as non-binary, was extradited to Hungary at dawn on 28 June 2024 following a decision by the Berlin Court of Appeal. However, the highest German court had issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the extradition on the morning of the same day. This decision has now been confirmed in the main proceedings.
Maja T. is accused by Hungarian authorities of attacking alleged or actual sympathisers of the far-right scene in Budapest together with a total of 18 people at the so-called ‘Day of Honour’ in February 2023. The German national is therefore to be put on trial in Hungary. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, they are to be sent to prison in Hungary for 24 years in ‘aggravated criminal detention’.
The handover to the Hungarian authorities was carried out by the Saxon police, who are conducting the investigation on the German side of the so-called Budapest Complex, despite an urgent application by Maja T. to the Federal Constitutional Court. When the court issued a temporary injunction at 10.50 a.m. prohibiting the handover, she had already been in Hungarian custody since 10 a.m. following a ‘transit’ through Austria. The Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Berlin only informed the Federal Constitutional Court of this two hours later.
In its decision on Thursday, the Federal Constitutional Court criticised the Berlin Court of Appeal for not fulfilling its duty to fully investigate the conditions of detention in Hungary. The Berlin court had not sufficiently analysed reports on the situation in the prisons there, which pointed to ‘systemic and general deficiencies’.
Hungary had issued a guarantee that Maja T. would be treated well in the local justice system. However, the Federal Constitutional Court considers these assurances to be too unspecific, and an individual risk prognosis in relation to the non-binary Maja T. was also lacking. In addition, the Hungarian authorities had stated that there was no register of the gender identity of prisoners, which made targeted protective measures for those affected more difficult.
In its decision, the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed Maja T.’s continued need for legal protection, as the extradition represented a far-reaching encroachment on fundamental rights that would continue to have an effect. The decision is unlikely to have any practical consequences for the time being: Maja T. is still in prison in Budapest; their trial begins on 21 February with an initial hearing and the question of whether they confirm the allegations made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in principle and agrees to a ‘deal’ with a shortened trial and 14 years in prison.
‘Legally, this is of course a great success, even if the decision will tragically not lead Maja out of the isolation cell without further ado,’ says their German lawyer Sven Richwin. ‘We hope that the Hungarian authorities will now have the decency to at least grant Maja a reduction in her detention in the form of house arrest.’ Hungary has promised that Maja T. will be returned, Richwin also said – but only after a judgement in Budapest. They could then serve their sentence in Germany.
Left-wing MEP Martin Schirdewan is calling for the immediate return of Maja T. However, the German government has no means of enforcing this before a trial in another EU country. At best, such an agreement could be reached through diplomatic channels. Schirdewan is appealing to the future federal government and the common conservative and social democratic state government in Saxony and is also calling for consequences ‘both in terms of personnel and institutions’ for those responsible for the blitz extradition of Maja T. in Germany.
Lawyer Richwin also sees the decision from Karlsruhe as having a ‘strong signalling effect’ for the parallel proceedings of other suspects in the Budapest complex who are currently threatened with extradition to Hungary. Possible assurances from Hungary, in which the rule of law is promised, can now ‘no longer be negligently followed without scrutiny’ by German courts.
This applies in particular to the seven anti-fascists wanted from Hungary who turned themselves in to German authorities a fortnight ago – including a Syrian with refugee status. They are demanding a fair trial in Germany for the acts they are accused of on the ‘Day of Honour’, as will also be the case from 19 February in the case of Hanna S. from Nuremberg. She will be tried by the Munich Higher Regional Court for membership of a criminal organisation, grievous bodily harm and attempted murder for the attacks on actual or alleged right-wing extremists.
The ‘Budapest Solidarity Committee’ (BASC) also commented on the decision from Karlsruhe at the request of ‘nd’ and criticised ‘political justice’. State courts were being ‘driven by the political persecution fervour’ of the Saxon State Criminal Police Office. ‘Now more than ever, we are calling for German politicians to immediately return Maja to Germany and stop all extraditions to Hungary,’ the solidarity group demands.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Hungary has agreed to transfer the non-binary person to Germany – but only after a conviction so that they can serve their sentence in their home country.
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