Arrest warrants have been issued for two German citizens in connection with the street attacks in Budapest last week, the Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) revealed on Wednesday. They were newly identified in the investigation, with four attackers who were involved in a series of attacks on pedestrians having previously been arrested. The attackers presumed the victims to be far-right.
A 20-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, both of German nationality, are wanted by Budapest detectives for violence against a member of the community and European Arrest Warrants have been issued.
The message from the Budapest Police Headquarters is clear: we will not tolerate attacks on people in the capital, whether ideologically motivated or not. We will use all means allowed by law to identify and prosecute the perpetrators regardless of nationality, ideology or gender,”
the police announced in a statement.
Of the four people detained so far, the court arrested three suspects – a Hungarian and an Italian woman and a German man – and ordered criminal supervision of a German woman. They said that the Budapest Police Headquarters is investigating armed violence against a member of the community, assault with a weapon, group violence, grievous bodily harm, and other crimes for the attacks on alleged participants of the “Day of Honor” event in various locations in Budapest.
The attackers, who are believed to be far-left extremists, so-called antifascists (antifa), beat up Polish tourists last Thursday, with two of the victims suffering serious fracture injuries. On Friday, a man was assaulted in a similar manner in Gazdagrét, suffering minor injuries. In the fifth district in the city center, a couple returning home from a concert were beaten up, the man was seriously injured, and in the first district, a German couple was seriously assaulted.
The only thing connecting the victims was their clothing – they were wearing either camouflage patterned clothes, black jackets, or so-called bomber jackets. Because of these clothes, the assailants thought they were far-right and arrived to Budapest to celebrate the Day of Honor, commemorating the day when German and Hungarian troops attempted to break out from Buda on the evening of February 11, 1945. This is one of the biggest annual events of the far-right in Hungary, and many people from abroad also usually attend.
Featured photo via police.hu