Five attacks took place in Budapest in February 2023, in which nine people were injured.Continue reading
Seven extremists, who had been wanted for almost two years on suspicion of attacking suspected neo-Nazis in Hungary, have surrendered to the authorities in Germany, reports Tagesschau.
The German news site, citing NDR and WDR (German public broadcasters), writes that seven left-wing radicals who had been in hiding handed themselves in to the authorities on Monday morning. The suspects, aged between 21 and 27, were remanded into custody and face possible extradition to Hungary.
They are all suspected of involvement in the 2023 Budapest antifa-attacks.
In February 2023, a group of antifa thugs attacked people, selected at random or by their clothing, believing them to be neo-Nazis, in broad daylight in the public spaces of the Hungarian capital. A total of five attacks took place at that time in Budapest, and it soon became clear to the police that the attacks were part of a series. Of the nine people attacked, four suffered serious injuries and five light injuries, and included both Hungarian and foreign nationals.
One of the suspects, Italian citizen Ilaria Salis, was also accused of being part of the violent group and was standing trial in Budapest until recently. She was released from house arrest and returned to Italy, as she won a seat in the European Parliament.
Hungarian and German authorities are still investigating several suspects, including a total of 13 Germans and two Italians, for acts of violence and membership of a criminal organization.
Six of the seven suspects who have now surrendered are to be brought to Karlsruhe by Tuesday evening and brought before the arrest judge at the Federal Court of Justice, a spokeswoman for the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said. Arrest warrants have been issued for them.
The suspects had gone into hiding because they feared extradition to Hungary.
Lukas Bastisch, the lawyer of a 22-year-old woman, said his client had turned herself in voluntarily, despite the risk of extradition to Hungary, and that he fears “a fair trial is not guaranteed” in Hungary, calling the government “right-wing authoritarian.” According to him, the woman faces an “excessively long prison sentence of up to 24 years,” and also claimed that Hungarian prison conditions violate “minimum human rights standards.” The lawyer also called on the German authorities not to approve the extradition.
Via Tagesschau.de, Featured image: Youtube screenshot