An activist from the German far-left militant group known as the “Hammer Gang” was sentenced on Wednesday by a Hungarian court to eight years in prison. Maja T., a person unable to define their gender identity, previously known as Simeon T., took part in exceptionally brutal attacks carried out by the group on the streets of Budapest in February 2023, when they organized what they described as a “hunt for Nazis” during the so-called Day of Honor.
In February 2023, Budapest was shaken by a series of violent assaults carried out by activists from the German far-left militant group “Hammerbande”, also known as Antifa East. The attacks were ideologically motivated, and the perpetrators’ modus operandi was particularly disturbing: victims whom the militants judged to hold “right-wing” views or to “look like neo-Nazis” were attacked from behind. They were struck with batons, metal rods, and other weapons. The assaults provoked widespread outrage, as the victims suffered head injuries and broken bones, and some were beaten even while lying defenseless on the ground. According to investigators, the injuries inflicted by the attackers could have been life-threatening. Around 20 German and several other foreign left-wing extremists were said to have taken part in the attacks. Nine people were injured, four of them seriously.
Maja T. was arrested in Berlin in 2023. It was established that they had traveled to Hungary specifically to carry out acts of politically and ideologically motivated violence. In June 2024, the individual was extradited to Hungary. Nearly three years after the violent incidents in which they took part, a verdict was delivered sentencing them to eight years in prison for causing grievous bodily harm and for participation in a criminal organization. Judge Josef Sós refused to suspend the sentence, citing the scale of the violence.
Fury of the European left
The conviction of Maja T. triggered sharp reactions from parts of the European left. The case had been politically charged from the beginning, not least because Italian MEP Ilaria Salis was identified as a member of the Hammer Gang who allegedly took part in assaults on Hungarian citizens. Notably, she did not stand trial. She was shielded by the immunity granted to Members of the European Parliament. Even more strikingly, Salis was arrested by Hungarian police in 2023 and spent a year in detention before being transferred to house arrest. During that time, she won a seat in the European Parliament, thereby gaining immunity. A request by the Hungarian court to lift her parliamentary immunity failed in a secret vote by a margin of a single vote.
Salis spoke out even before the sentencing of her associate. She described Hungary as a country where “anti-fascism is considered an act of terrorism,” and blamed the entire proceeding on the “far-right” government of Viktor Orbán.
“The trial against Maja and Gabriele, like the trials against all anti-fascists, is a show trial. There is no doubt about it. This is a Kafkaesque scene in which the regime stages a pitiful spectacle of exemplary punishment against its enemies,”
Salis declared from the safety of her parliamentary immunity.
Left-wing groups in Germany struck a similar tone, calling for Maja T.’s return to Germany, where they argued the individual would receive a “fair trial.” According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, left-wing activists took to the streets in several German cities on Wednesday evening to protest the verdict.
“Berlin police reported that around 550 demonstrators gathered in the Kreuzberg district and marched toward Friedrichshain. Similar protests were organized in Hamburg, Dresden, Erfurt, Freiburg, Nuremberg, Kiel, Potsdam, and Leipzig, where police estimated participation at around 500 people.”
The German party Die Linke, which has representatives in the Bundestag, called the verdict “a devastating indictment of the independence of the Hungarian judiciary.” The party also stated that Maja T. deserved “compensation for inhumane prison conditions” in Hungarian detention facilities, which they said were not adapted to holding “non-binary” inmates.
“The German government has an obligation toward Maja T.: Foreign Minister Wadephul must firmly demand Maja T.’s immediate return to Germany,”
commented Luke Hoß, a Bundestag member from Die Linke.
„8 Jahre Zuchthaus: Dieses Urteil ist ein Armutszeugnis für die Unabhängigkeit der ungarischen Justiz. Ob #Maja T. die vorgeworfenen Taten wirklich begangen hat, wurde in diesem politischen Propaganda-Prozess nicht nachgewiesen. Ein erneutes und faires Verfahren in Deutschland…
— Die Linke im Bundestag (@dielinkebt) February 4, 2026
The Left in the European Parliament went even further, describing the Hammer Gang’s violent attacks as a “democratic duty.”
“Anti-fascism is not terrorism; it is a democratic duty,”
their representatives wrote on X.
Maja is 24, non-binary, anti-fascist, and today they have been sentenced to 8 years in prison in Hungary.
— The Left in the European Parliament (@Left_EU) February 4, 2026
Anti-fascism is not terrorism, it is a democratic duty.
We stand with Maja and with everyone across Europe who refuses to be silenced.
🔗https://t.co/LoJjaDLOo6 pic.twitter.com/2pMmjLepc4
Police across Germany warned officers to be alert for possible unrest, retaliatory crimes, arson, and attacks on Hungarian diplomatic facilities.
Day of Honor: a controversial anniversary
The series of attacks was carried out in connection with the “Day of Honor,” an anniversary marking the successful breakout from the Soviet siege of Budapest. The anniversary is highly controversial, as the operation was carried out by German Waffen-SS troops together with Hungarian units (Hungary ultimately sided with the Axis powers during World War II). The status of this commemoration is widely debated: on one hand, it serves as a gathering point for groups regarded as neo-Nazi; on the other, Viktor Orbán’s government has tolerated both the event and the associated gatherings, while not denying the complex and ambiguous nature of Hungary’s World War II history.