A Hungarian court has sentenced a German non-binary Antifa activist to eight years’ imprisonment for her role in a series of violent assaults in Budapest in February 2023.
The Budapest-Capital Regional Court today handed down the first-instance verdict against Maja T, who identifies as non-binary and has ties to the left-wing extremist scene in Jena, Germany.
Maja was convicted of attempted grievous bodily harm committed as part of a criminal organisation. The sentence may be appealed.
The attacks occurred in the days surrounding the annual Day of Honour event, a far-right commemoration that draws neo-Nazis and extremists from across Europe. It commemorates a failed breakout bid in 1945 by the Waffen-SS and allied Hungarian troops after the city was surrounded by the advancing Soviet army.
Prosecutors said a group of Antifa militants, including Maja T, carried out five separate assaults over a few days, targeting people they believed were linked to the rally.
Victims – both Hungarian and foreign nationals – were attacked from behind with iron bars, hammers and other objects.
An Italian far-left militant Antifa extremist currently in house arrest in Hungary on suspicion of attempted murder has been elected into the European Parliament and will walk free thanks to MEP immunity.
Ilaria Salis is suspected of having been part of the German “Hammer Gang”… pic.twitter.com/bmWyUarZo8
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 10, 2024
Of the nine people assaulted, four sustained serious injuries, including broken bones, severe blood loss and head trauma. Several were potentially life-threatening, while five victims suffered lighter wounds.
Maja T was extradited from Germany to Hungary in 2024 after a legally controversial process.
German courts had initially resisted the handover, citing concerns over detention conditions for non-binary prisoners in Hungary but she was eventually transferred.
To avoid violent riots, she was transferred at the time by helicopter in a midnight operation by Saxony state police.
She had spent time in pre-trial detention and had gone on hunger strike in protest at her treatment.
The prosecution had pushed for a much heavier penalty, up to the maximum of 24 years and had offered a plea bargain of 14 years, which Maja T rejected.
In her final words to the court she was quoted saying: “Everyone knows what sentence the Prime Minister wants,” a reference to Hungary PM Viktor Orbán’s hard line against left-wing extremism.
Hungary has placed Antifa-linked groups on its list of terrorist organisations in 2025.
Maja T said dissenting opinions are suppressed in Hungary and that the authorities wanted to deter the Left.
Last summer, she had gone in a hunger strike against the detention conditions.
The accused’s father said the sentence confirmed his “fears”and he said in a statement: “This was a political show trial.
“The public prosecutor’s office, medical experts, and judge Jozsef Sos are working hand in hand to deliver the appropriately harsh sentence.”
The case forms part of the wider “Budapest Complex” investigations into Antifa violence.
One other alleged participant is Italian MEP Ilaria Salis, who is accused of also being member of the hammer gang that violent attacked people based on their appearance. But she has been elected for the European Parliament and so far avoided trial in Hungary thanks to parliamentary immunity, which has been granted to her several times by a left-wing majority.
Other German suspects have been tried in their home country, with at least one receiving a five-year sentence.
Due to the possibility of “inhumane treatment” in prison, Italian and French courts have refused to turn over two suspects to Hungary.
Hungarian authorities have presented the verdict as a clear message that ideologically motivated street violence will be met with firm justice.
Critics, including some in Germany and left-wing activist circles, have described the proceedings as politically driven and disproportionate.
Martin Schirdewan, the German who served as co-chairman of The Left from June 2022 to October 2024 in the European Parliament was also present in the courtroom to hear the verdict.
The presumption of innocence applies until any appeal is exhausted and the sentence becomes final.
