Hungary reduces German activist’s prison term over 2023 attacks

A Budapest appeals court on Wednesday reduced the jail term for a German non-binary anti-fascist activist's sentence for participating in anti-Nazi violence from eight to seven years.

Maja T., 25, was found guilty in Febuary of involvement in assaults in 2023 ahead of the annual "Day of Honour" in Budapest commemorating Nazi soldiers.

Prosecutors said the activist was part of a multinational far-left group that attacked nine people on the streets, including German and Polish citizens, whom they identified as far-right extremists.

The Budapest-Capital Regional Court of Appeal reclassified Maja T.'s role from co-perpetrator to accomplice, shortening the sentence by one year, the presiding judge said.

The ruling is final and not subject to further appeal.

The defendant entered the court led by guards on a leash amid faint cheers of "Maja" from the audience.

Ahead of the ruling, supporters put up banners near the court entrance demanding the release of the activist, amid a heavy police presence on surronding streets.

Campaigners, including some German politicians, had questioned whether Maja T would receive a fair trial, as the groups linked to the attacks were designated terrorist organisations last year by the former nationalist government of Viktor Orban.

Multiple people accused of participating in the 2023 attacks have been put on trial in Hungary and Germany, with one receiving a five-year prison sentence in Germany.

Italy and France have refused to surrender two suspects to Hungary with courts in both countries citing the risk of "inhumane treatment" in prison.

In 2024, the German Constitutional Court found that Maja T. ran the risk of discriminatory treatment in Hungary as a non-binary person and should not be extradited.

But the ruling came hours too late to stop the handover.

Last year, Maja T. staged a 40-day hunger strike to protest the "unlawful handover" and "inhumane" prison conditions, an allegation denied by Hungary's prison service.