Hunger strike by Maja T. | Wadephul moves around in the Budapest complex

In the case of Maja T., a non-binary person imprisoned in Hungary, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has announced a new initiative. "We are in talks with the Hungarian government to initially achieve improvements in Maja T.'s detention situation," the CDU politician told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The Foreign Office will "make further representations to Hungary" on the matter next week.

However, Hungary has so far reaffirmed its interest in pursuing its own prosecution. T. is "subject to the most serious allegations," the minister said. "Maja T. would therefore also have to expect criminal proceedings in Germany," he added.

T. is on trial in Budapest along with other defendants from Italy and Albania for alleged bodily harm during protests against right-wing extremists in February 2023. The Thuringian man faces a sentence of up to 24 years in prison. T. is on hunger strike to secure better prison conditions and a return to Germany.

According to a solidarity committee and her father, Wolfram Jarosch, Maja T. has already lost 14 kilograms in approximately four weeks of hunger strike and has been transferred to a prison hospital due to health problems. Jarosch drew attention to this last week in a protest march from Jena to Berlin and presented the Foreign Office with a petition started by the detainees' parents, which had over 100,000 signatures , demanding T.'s return.

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. Wadephul acknowledges this: "The extradition took place at a time when the Constitutional Court's decision had not yet been served," the minister told RND.

Wolfram Jarosch sees Wadephul's announcement as a hopeful development. The question, however, is why it took a year. "The violation of law following Maja's extradition continues. The German government has a duty to rectify this," the father told "nd." Before the emergency ruling, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice had promised the Berlin Higher Regional Court that it would uphold European human rights – this has not happened. Jarosch therefore expects Wadephul to now achieve substantial progress in the matter and to end the violation of fundamental rights. Maja T.'s solitary confinement must also end.

"This is a small success, because until now, Wadephul has remained silent," a spokesperson for the solidarity group BASC told "nd" about the news from Berlin. However, so far, the family and Maja T. have only known this from the press. Wadephul's announcements were also vaguely worded: It remains unclear what the negotiations actually concern. "These statements are therefore no reason to ease the pressure on the federal government," the spokesperson said. Maja T. asked that the Foreign Office envoy who would be negotiating with Hungary should also visit her in the prison hospital.

Former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Green Party) also intervened in the case of the German citizen imprisoned in Hungary and advocated for improvements in prison conditions . Wadephul's predecessor met with parents of detainees in the Budapest complex in Thuringia. In February, she reportedly held talks with the Hungarian government on the matter. Former Green State Minister Anna Lührmann is also said to have advocated for Maja T. at the diplomatic level.

The German initiatives also addressed the possibility of awaiting trial dates under house arrest instead of pretrial detention. This was the ruling issued by the Budapest court over a year ago in the case of Ilaria Salis, who was also accused of assaulting neo-Nazis. However, her case was different from Maja T.'s: Salis was running – successfully – for the European Parliament election on Italy's left-green party list.

In addition to Maja T., another extradition from Germany could soon follow: Along with a total of eight defendants in the Budapest complex, the son of Syrian refugees, Zaid A. , turned himself in to the police in February regarding the allegations and demanded a fair trial in Germany rather than Hungary. While six of the seven Germans are currently being tried before the Düsseldorf Regional Court , the German judiciary believes A. should be tried in Budapest. However, a final decision on his extradition is still pending.