{
  "id": 10930951,
  "title": "Justiz: Gericht verringert Strafe für Maja T. auf sieben Jahre",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/justiz-gericht-verringert-strafe-fur-maja-t-auf-sieben-jahre",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-30T11:26:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/justiz-gericht-verringert-strafe-fuer-maja-t-auf-sieben-jahre/100258575.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "The Budapest Appeals Court has reduced the prison sentence for non-binary individual Maja T. from Jena from originally eight years to seven years. Maja T. faced charges of severe assault on presumed far-right extremists in Hungary. Time spent in pre-trial detention will be subtracted from the prison sentence, explained Judge Geza Szalai. Maja T. identifies with the left scene. The judge ruled that Maja T. attempted to fatally injure an individual in Budapest without carrying out the act. Surveillance cameras captured Maja T. approaching a group intending to attack a victim, distancing herself from the group, and attempting to strike another victim, which was unsuccessful. While Maja T. engaged in criminal activity as part of a criminal group, the court deemed the first instance to have exaggerated this factor in the severity of the punishment. In Hungary, both completed and attempted severe bodily harm is punishable by 2 to 8 years in prison, while membership in a criminal group carries a sentence of 2 to 16 years, outlined Judge Szalai. Maja T. was initially sentenced to eight years in prison in February at the first instance. The defense argued for acquittal. The prosecution originally sought the maximum sentence of 24 years, adding the sentences for both offenses. During the appeal, prosecutors demanded at least 13 years in prison and an aggravation of the prison term: Maja T. should serve her sentence in a so-called remand prison with less freedom of movement and delays in early release. An application for the completion of the sentence in Germany is now possible. Maja T. may request to be transferred to Germany to serve her sentence, her German defense attorney Maik Elster said after the court's ruling. Immediate consultation on steps in this direction was desired. Violence at anti-far-right demo The alleged crimes are linked to violent actions of a German Antifa group, whose members have since received sentences in Germany. In February 2023, numerous Antifa activists protested against the traditionally far-right organized \"Day of Honor\" in Budapest, resulting in violence. The defense contested the identification of Maja T. on the street surveillance videos of the scene, indicating that she was not definitively identified on camera. Additionally, there was no clear evidence that the active Antifa group in Budapest belonged to a criminal group defined by criminal law. Medical expert witnesses also failed to present clear evidence that the victims were attacked with weapons like batons. Moreover, the defendant's procedural rights were violated as not all relevant material was made available in German translation. Maja T. was arrested in Berlin in December 2023 and extradited to Hungary in June 2024. The German Constitutional Court ruled the extradition improper, stating that the court in Hungary did not adequately examine the detention conditions for Maja T., the non-binary person. Green and left-wing parties, including Helge Limburg, Green Bundestag spokesperson, and Martin Schirdewan, leader of the European Parliament's left-wing faction, attended the sentencing announcement. Both politicians welcomed the reduced sentence and attributed the harsher first instance verdict to political influence of the then ruling far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Schirdewan called the first instance \"a spectacle\" and said it has now been \"corrected.\" Orban was ousted in April of this year. Limburg also demanded disciplinary consequences for Berlin's justice system and the Saxony State Criminal Office due to the \"collective constitutional breach\" that led to Maja T.'s extradition to Hungary. He called for a rapid return of Maja T. to Germany, stating \"this unconstitutional situation must be resolved as soon as possible.\"",
  "summary": "Das Berufungsgericht in Budapest senkt die Haftstrafe für Maja T. auf sieben Jahre. Welche Argumente führten zur Entscheidung?",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}