Budapest, Hungary. A Hungarian court on Wednesday sentenced German citizen Maja T. to eight years in prison for assaulting suspected far-right sympathisers in Budapest in 2023. The case is linked to an anti-fascist group that travelled to Hungary to counter a far-right rally.
Court ruling and charges
The presiding judge found Maja T. guilty of “attempting bodily harm… as part of an organised crime group”.
According to the indictment, Maja T. was part of a far-left group that planned to take up an “ideological fight with violent attacks against sympathisers of the extremist right” with the aim of assaulting people with “various instruments capable of causing death.”
Arrest and transfer to Hungary
Maja T. was arrested in Berlin in December 2023 on a European arrest warrant and was subsequently transferred to Hungary.
German court ruling on extradition
The case drew international attention when Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled in February 2025 that it had been unlawful to extradite Maja T., who identifies as non-binary, to Hungary, upholding her argument that the decision violated the European Union’s Charter on Fundamental Rights.
Hungary’s prison assurances and LGBTQ+ policies
Under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary has introduced anti-LGBTQ+ policies, including laws that Brussels says discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Authorities in Hungary, an EU member that has clashed with Brussels on issues including LGBT rights and the rule of law, have given assurances that non-binary people are not subject to discrimination or violence in prisons there.
Responses and related cases
Maja T., who was one of several individuals to go on trial over the attacks, told the court that the accusations against her were political.
The German justice ministry said it had no comment.
The first accused in the trial was Italian teacher Ilaria Salis, who was released from house arrest in June 2024 after she was elected a member of the European Parliament. Prosecutors were seeking an 11-year sentence for her, and Salis and her family said she was innocent.
What do you think are the key implications of this ruling for future cross-border extraditions within the European Union?