Antifa trial: Budapest Court of Appeal finds defendants guilty in final ruling
In the Budapest antifa attacks case, the Budapest Court of Appeal has found the defendants guilty in a final ruling, reducing sentences in two cases.
Final ruling in antifa trial: guilty verdicts for Budapest attackers
The Budapest Court of Appeal on Wednesday delivered a final guilty verdict against the defendants in the antifa trial, according to hu.euronews.com. Between 9 and 11 February 2023, the defendants carried out five attacks in Budapest against individuals they regarded as far-right, injuring nine people, six of them seriously.
The appellate court slightly reduced the sentences of two defendants. The court reduced the sentence of the fourth defendant Maja T., who was the only one present at the hearing, from eight years to seven years, and in the case of the fifth defendant Gabriele M., who is based in Italy, it reduced the sentence from seven years to six years – however, both defendants were excluded from the possibility of conditional release. The sentence of the third defendant Anna M., a German resident, remained unchanged at two years' imprisonment suspended for five years.
The first defendant, Italian Ilaria Salis, currently enjoys parliamentary immunity after being elected as a European Parliament member. A ruling was previously made in the case of the second defendant, German Tobias E.; he has already been handed over to German authorities.
Judge Géza Szalai explained in his reasoning that the court of appeal found no irregularities in the first-instance proceedings. The Budapest Metropolitan Court conducted thorough evidentiary proceedings: it heard witnesses and experts, and screened video recordings. The appellate court found no investigative deficiencies, and found no legal violations that would have justified the exclusion of evidence.
The court of appeal modified the first-instance decision to the extent that in the cases of the fourth and fifth defendants, it changed the classification from joint perpetration to complicity, and omitted reference to commission within a criminal organisation in the naming of the offences. However, Judge Szalai emphasised that the court of appeal considered the sentence imposed "as against offenders acting within a criminal organisation", which is decisive for the sentencing range.
The court assessed as a mitigating circumstance that the injuries proved not to be fatal or life-threatening. It identified organised commission as an aggravating factor, the application of ideologically motivated violence, and the fact that the victims were chosen randomly from among individuals believed to be far-right. The attacks were planned and rehearsed in advance – Judge Szalai stressed, noting separately that Maja T. showed no remorse and promoted her ideology both during the proceedings and in her final statement.
At the end of the hearing, Maja T. requested that she not serve her sentence in Hungary.
Source: Google News HU — Crime (hu)