Hungary: Maja T. on hunger strike – Foreign Minister wants to talk to Hungary

July 12, 2025, 7:21 a.m. |

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Wolfram Jarosch, the father of Maja T., at a demonstration in front of the Foreign Office in Berlin last Monday. — Wolfram Jarosch, Maja T.'s father, at a demonstration in front of the Foreign Office in Berlin last Monday. (Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa)

The alleged left-wing radical from Germany, who is on trial in Budapest, is apparently in very poor health. Minister Wadephul intends to seek better prison conditions from the Hungarian government next week.

In the case of Maja T., a non-binary person imprisoned in Hungary , Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has announced talks with the government in Budapest. "We will again present ourselves to Hungary on this matter next week," the CDU politician told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The first priority is to achieve improvements in detention conditions. "We will continue our intensive efforts," Wadephul said.

Maja T. is on trial in Budapest for alleged bodily harm during protests against right-wing extremists in February 2023. If convicted, T. faces a sentence of up to 24 years in prison. T. has been imprisoned in Hungary for more than a year: with one hour of outdoor exercise a day, otherwise alone in a cell with a small window covered with film so she cannot see. T. describes it as solitary confinement.

At the beginning of June, Maja T. went on hunger strike. According to a solidarity committee and her father, Wolfgang Jarosch, T. has already lost 14 kilograms of body weight. The treating doctors assess the situation as very critical and are considering implanting a pacemaker, Jarosch said on Thursday. Her heart rate has occasionally dropped to 30 beats per minute. Fainting spells and even cardiac arrest are possible.

The goal of the hunger strike is to achieve better prison conditions and her return to Germany. However, Foreign Minister Wadephul apparently considers the latter unrealistic: Hungary has so far reiterated its interest in pursuing its own prosecution, he told the RND. T. is facing "the most serious accusations." "Therefore, Maja T. would also have to expect criminal proceedings in Germany."

T. was arrested in Berlin in December 2023 and extradited to Hungary in June 2024 – despite the Federal Constitutional Court's prohibition. But the decision from Karlsruhe came a few minutes too late.