German activist Maja T. goes on hunger strike in Hungary – DW – 06/06/2025
German anti-fascist activist Maja T., has been held in isolation in a Hungarian prison for one year now. The case highlights the state of the rule of law in Victor Orban's Hungary.
"I can no longer endure the prison conditions in Hungary. My cell was under round-the-clock video surveillance for over three months. I always had to wear handcuffs outside my cell for over seven months," reads Maja T.'s statement. The non-binary German activist went on a hunger strike on June 5.
"Non-binary" refers to individuals who identify as neither exclusively female nor male. People like Maja T.* generally have a hard time in Hungary, although it is a member state of the European Union (EU), which has anti-discrimination provisions.
In 2021, Hungary first made legislative amendments to multiple laws, targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. In early 2025, under Viktor Orban's authoritarian rule, Hungary passed a law that can be used to ban Pride and similar events.
At the start of the trial in Budapest, Maja T. was led into the courtroom on a leash Image: Denes Erdos/AP/dpa/picture alliance
No hope of a fair trial
Maja T. has long given up hope of a fair criminal trial and wants to use the hunger strike to force a return to Germany. In June 2024, T. was extradited from Germany to Hungary and has been in solitary confinement in a Budapest prison ever since. The activist's trial began there on February 21.
The public prosecutor's office accuses the prisoner from Jena in Germany's eastern state of Thuringia of assaulting and seriously injuring several people in Budapest in February 2023. The victims had taken part in the so-called "Day of Honor," an annual march by neo-Nazis from all over Europe.
At the start of the criminal proceedings, T. was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles and on a leash. The public prosecutor's office offered T. the opportunity to enter a guilty plea and accept 14 years in prison without further proceedings. However, T. declined and instead made a six-page statement with clear criticism of Hungary:
"It is a state that quite openly marginalizes and separates people because of their sexuality or gender. I am accused by a European state because I am an anti-fascist."
T. did not comment on the content of the charges — multiple counts of grievous bodily harm.
Maja T. could now face up to 24 years in prison under Hungarian law. A sentence passed by a German court is likely to be much more lenient.
Hungary amends constitution to curb LGBTQ+ rights
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Extradition to Hungary was unlawful
What makes the case particularly controversial is that T.'s extradition from Germany to Hungary was unlawful. This was ruled by the Federal Constitutional Court at the end of January. It expressly referred to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and the associated ban on inhumane treatment.
The court listed: Inadequate hygiene conditions, lack of access to hot water, bedbugs, poor and little food, extreme temperatures in winter and summer, poor lighting and ventilation in the cells, violence against prisoners by fellow prisoners and prison staff, and rule of law deficits.
The Berlin Court of Appeal is responsible for the unlawful extradition. The Constitutional Court accuses the appeals court of ignoring current information on overcrowding and prison conditions in Hungarian prisons.
A 'political trial'
However, the successful constitutional complaint came too late: Maja T. had already been extradited. Maja T.'s father, Wolfram Jarosch, traveled to Budapest at the start of the trial to offer his 24-year-old child moral support. On the phone with DW, he described the criminal proceedings as a "political trial."
"The worst thing is the solitary confinement," Jarosch said. However, he is impressed by his child's self-discipline: Physical exercise, reading and writing according to a daily and weekly schedule. "Nevertheless, I ultimately notice that Maja is suffering more and more under these conditions, both mentally and physically," he added.
There have been demonstrations in Germany in support of Maja T. Image: Markus Scholz/dpa/picture alliance
Several members of Germany's socialist Left Party are taking a keen interest in Maja T.'s case.
Carola Rackete, Member of the European Parliament, has already visited twice and was able to talk to the security staff about the conditions of detention. She was told that the solitary confinement had been ordered "from above," she told DW.
While the other inmates are housed in multi-bed cells and have communal access to the yard, Maja T. is in solitary confinement, allegedly because of her non-binary identity. Rackete believes it is unlikely that this will change.
The MEP calls on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the German government to exert pressure on Hungary: If you seriously want to distance yourself from right-wing extremists and stand up for democratic values, you cannot stand idly by while Orban's regime destroys human lives in Hungarian courts, Rackete argues.
No further extradition of suspected left-wing extremists
Six suspected left-wing extremists, who had been in hiding and are also believed to have been involved in the attacks on suspected neo-Nazis in Budapest in 2023, were luckier than Maja T. The group voluntarily handed themselves in to the German authorities in January. They apparently do not have to fear extradition to Hungary, as the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed to DW on request.
Accordingly, the public prosecutors responsible for the extradition proceedings were informed in writing that the investigations in Germany have priority. This means that, should charges be brought, the proceedings would take place in Germany.
*Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
This article was originally written in German.
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