Activist’s father walking to Berlin with 100,000 signatures to “demand justice for his child” jailed in Budapest
~ Alisa-Ece Tohumcu ~
Solidarity actions have been taking place over the last days with Maja T, a non-binary anti-fascist activist and one of the accused in the Budapest case. Maja, who has been on hunger strike since June 5, was transferred Tuesday to a prison hospital near the Romanian border in critical condition. According to relatives, they have lost around twelve kilograms of weight.
Their 2024 extradition from Germany to Hungary was ruled unlawful by the Federal Constitutional Court in April, but Maja remains in pre-trial detention under what supporters describe as “white torture”: solitary confinement, 24-hour surveillance, denial of hormone therapy, and restricted communication.
Demonstrations have been held in Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Düsseldorf, Jena, and beyond. On June 25, members of the Free Maja support network disrupted the Saxon State Parliament, demanding that Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) act on the court ruling. He later dismissed the protest, saying his policies were “for the middle class.”
Daily noise demonstrations followed outside the Saxon State Chancellery on July 1 and 2. “We’ll keep going until Maja is back with us,” declared the Antifascist Solidarity Committee Dresden. Activists blame Kretschmer’s government for enabling the extradition and maintaining ties with Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party.
Maja is one of several anti-fascists charged in connection with an attack on Budapest’s February 2023 “Day of Honour,” an annual neo-Nazi gathering. They were arrested in Berlin in December 2023 and extradited the following July—before their legal appeal concluded—which critics say violates both German constitutional standards and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Maja’s father, Wolfram Jarosch, has begun walking over 300 kilometres from Jena to Berlin. He is carrying a petition with 100,000 signatures, demanding intervention from the German Foreign Ministry. “Every day in prison is a risk to my child’s life,” he said. “Political inaction puts Maja in direct danger.”
In Schwelm, activists damaged a Deutsche Bank branch on June 22, citing the bank’s role in global arms funding. On July 2, militants sprayed graffiti the CDU’s Hamburg headquarters, blaming the party for enabling Maja’s detention. “We won’t rest until Maja is back with us”. they wrote.
Maja’s own words, shared in a smuggled letter, have been cited widely: “Solidarity gives me the strength to continue fighting, not only for better prison conditions in Hungary, but for the freedom of all political prisoners”. Further demonstrations and organising meetings are planned, including a public event in Dresden on July 7.
