Can you stand trial in a country that does not recognise your existence?
28 April 2025
Ten months ago, Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, was extradited from Germany to Hungary. There, they are accused of taking part in violent attacks against far-right groups in Budapest in February 2023, and have been in jail since. That's despite the German constitutional court ruling Maja's extradition to Hungary as unlawful because of potentially dangerous prison conditions.
The defendant, who identifies as non-binary, is referred to by their dead name (birth name that the person has changed) in the proceedings. "I am accused in a country where I do not exist as Maja," they said. A freshly passed constitutional amendment recognises only two genders – male and female – chipping away, once again, at LGBTQI+ rights in Hungary.
In preparatory hearings, the Hungarian judge assigned to the case argued that the German ruling does not impede the Hungarian proceedings. Maja's lawyers argued that their human rights could not be safeguarded in Viktor Orbán's Hungary.
Like Ilaria Salis, an Italian teacher accused of the same crime whose case made international headlines, Maja T. also denounces the dire conditions they have to face in a Hungarian prison. The German activist says they are under constant video surveillance, held in isolation, being forced to spend 23 hours a day in a cell, and not being allowed to exercise.
They are also prohibited from sending letters and are only permitted very few visits. Both activists also complained about the court documents not being readily available and translated for them, impeding an efficient defence.
 | Fruzsina Szikszai According to the latest report of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC, a non-governmental human rights organisation), Hungary still fails to tackle prison overcrowding and inhumane detention conditions. That's despite rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and repeated calls by the Council of Europe over the past 13 years. Legislative and practical shortcomings in the treatment of detainees with disabilities and the application of special security regimes also persist, according to HHC. Ilaria Salis, who spent 15 months in pre-trial detention and was freed after having been elected to the European Parliament, talked about very poor hygiene conditions, including bedbugs, cockroaches and rats in her cell. Since then, six more people accused of being involved in the Budapest attacks have voluntarily surrendered in Germany, hoping to avoid being extradited to Hungary. |
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