Maja T., a nonbinary anti-fascist activist from Germany, has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Budapest. The trial has been controversial and has political implications.
What I could not find in articles published in English is a mention of the very thin line of evidence. From Tagesschau (German article, translated with Deepl):
Little incriminating evidence
During the trial, the prosecution presented little evidence. Neither witness statements nor DNA evidence incriminated the accused. The prosecution argued on the basis of circumstantial evidence based on footage from a security camera near one of the crime scenes.
The prosecution stated that Maja T. could be seen in these images together with other attackers. The defence countered that the person who was supposed to be T. clearly did not have a weapon with her.
The judge found Maja guilty of seriously injuring people though. Also, neither english nor german articles are explaining which “criminal organization” Maja belongs to, nor what constitutes such an organisation or being a member of it under hungarian law.
Secondly, all other extradition repuests associated to the Budapest Complex have been denied by courts in France, Germany and Italy, either initially or after an appeal. In Germany because there were german arrest warrants issued that had priority, in France and Italy because either the courts deemed the defendant’s risks if being subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment too high or because Hungary couldn’t provide sufficient guarantees the defendant’s right to a fair process would be respected.
Thirdly, the fears about last point apparently was proven right, sadly by the treatment of Maja T. by hungarian security and prison forces. A bedbug cockroach infested prison cell too small, insufficient food supplies, restrictions on visits by the german lawyer, being tied up and stripped naked for extended periods of time for inspections, lack of sunlight and psychological abuse.
Lots of grounds to at least suspend Hungary’s membership of the Union. This should not be permitted in the EU period.
No process to do so.
And I’ll be honest, we were begging the EU to stop showering these criminals with subsidies. Now that they did, as Merkel is out of the picture, we’re cleaning it up.
This is the result of 15 years of Merkel covering for Orbán, and it’s not even political, the country is just this shit.
“Criminal organisation” in Hungarian law only means that at the time of the crime committed, the perpetrators were organised, had a hierarchical relationship, and committed the crime with common premeditation.
It’s not like RICO, it only carries I think 50% extra time as a “qualified case” of the base criminal act. If they would have done it at night, that’s another qualified case. So would be if the victim was carrying out “public service”, eg. police on duty, EMT on duty or a teacher at work.
And about the prisons, yeah our prisons suck ass and nobody should be in there IMO. Our hospitals are also bedbug infested hellholes that kill people.
They also shouldn’t have extradited them. I’m just saying that in Hungary, this is actually not just the government, and Maja got no special treatment positive or negative.
Criminal organization in the legal sense doesn’t imply some well known mafia they need to belong to, it’s enough that a relatively large group of people performed the act, which stands here, according to the cited article.