Hungarian court reduces sentence for German anti-fascist convicted in far-right rally assaults– abcnews.com

BUDAPEST, Hungary — A Hungarian appeals court on Wednesday reduced the sentence of a German anti-fascist activist from eight to seven years in prison for taking part in assaults against participants of a far-right rally in Budapest in February 2023.

The new and final sentence for the defendant, identified by Hungarian authorities only as Maja T., came after a lower court issued the eight-year sentence at a hearing in February. Both the prosecution and the defense appealed that verdict, with the prosecution requesting 14 years and the defense pushing for acquittal.

Authorities say Maja T. was one of more than a dozen activists who assaulted participants at an annual far-right event in Budapest known as the “Day of Honor” — one of the biggest neo-Nazi rallies in Europe.

Prosecutors said Maja T. and other perpetrators “planned to pursue their ideological struggle against supporters of the extremist right,” and to “assault selected victims with various instruments capable of causing death.”

A group of the defendant’s supporters gathered outside the court in central Budapest on Wednesday, waving banners and demanding the defendant’s release. Upon entering the courtroom, Maja T. smiled at other supporters who had gathered inside for the hearing.

In reducing the sentence, the judge said Maja T. should be considered an accomplice rather than a perpetrator in one count of the charges, and should not be considered a member of a criminal organization as originally charged.