A year ago, German autonomists attacked a neo-Nazi march in Hungary. Now a trial began that ended with an initial verdict.

Antifa protests on February 11, 2023 in Budapest Photo: Martín Fejer/estost

SEDAN taz | For Tobias E. it was a short process. The Berliner has been detained in Budapest for a year. A year ago, he and other autonomous activists allegedly carried out attacks against participants in the far-right “Day of Honor” march in the Hungarian capital. E. was arrested along with two other leftists at the time and the trial against the three began in Budapest on Monday. And it all ended quickly for Tobias E.

According to the court, the 30-year-old man admitted the accusation of membership in a criminal organization and waived his right to receive evidence. In exchange, he received a three-year prison sentence on Monday. Furthermore, Tobias E. will no longer be allowed to enter Hungary for five years.

The original violent crime charge had already been dropped at the arraignment. What remained was the accusation of belonging to a criminal organization. This is said to be the group of Lina E. from Leipzig, who was sentenced in May 2023 to five years in prison by the Higher Regional Court in Dresden.

According to the indictment, Tobias E. faced up to five years in prison in Budapest. At the beginning of the trial, the prosecutor and the court had offered him a deal: confession and waiver of his procedural rights in exchange for a reduced sentence. The Berliner agreed.

The defense and the prosecution filed an appeal.

According to a statement, the court considered that Tobias E.'s confession was a mitigating factor in the sentence and that he was still being investigated in Germany. To increase the penalty, he cited the seriousness of the attacks and the fact that they were prepared and carried out at an international level. Furthermore, Tobías E. was one of the “leaders” of the criminal organization.

Both Tobias E.'s defense and the prosecution filed complaints against the sentence: the former asked for a lower prison sentence, the latter a higher one. This will now be decided in the second instance. Until then, the court imposed continued detention due to flight risk.

According to the indictment, in February 2023 there were four attacks around the “Day of Honor” in Budapest, where neo-Nazis in Europe have gathered for years and glorified the SS and the Wehrmacht. Nine people are said to have been run over in the attacks and six suffered serious injuries. The attackers always acted in groups and also used metal bars, rubber hammers or pepper spray.

Co-defendant faces up to 24 years in prison

In addition to Tobias E., Berliner Anna M. and Italian Ilaria S. appeared in court in Budapest on Monday. The prosecution also accuses Anna M. of belonging to a criminal organization; She recently got out of prison. Ilaria S. is also accused of participating in three life-threatening attacks and she faces up to 24 years in prison.

The prosecution also offered these two agreements in exchange for confessions: for Anna M. in this case three and a half years, for Ilaria S. 11 years. However, both women denied the allegations. The case will continue to be heard from May 24.

Lukas Theune, Anna M.'s lawyer, described the accusations against his client as “absurd.” There is nothing against her, except that she was in Budapest at the time, Theune told taz. In a constitutional procedure this could only mean an acquittal.

Since the arrests, Hungarian and German authorities are searching for ten more German autonomists, whom they accuse of participating in the attacks. Photos and names of those sought were published, but they have been missing for months. Only in December did Saxon investigators manage to arrest a Thuringian in Berlin. The non-binary person, Maja T., is now threatened with extradition to Hungary. The lawyers want to prevent this on the basis of the dubious constitutional situation in Hungary. Maja T.'s parents and a solidarity alliance are also protesting against the extradition.