Hungarian court sentences German anti-fascist activist to 8 years for far-right rally assaults

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A Hungarian court on Wednesday sentenced a German anti-fascist activist to eight years in prison for taking part in assaults against participants of a far-right rally in February 2023.

Authorities allege the 25-year-old defendant, identified only as Maja T., was one of more than a dozen people who assaulted participants in an annual far-right event in Budapest known as the “Day of Honor” — one of the biggest neo-Nazi rallies in Europe which marks the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army’s siege of the city in 1945.

The defendant was accused of attempted aggravated bodily harm causing life-threatening injuries and assault committed as part of a criminal organization.

Maja T. was extradited from Germany to Hungary in December 2024. Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled last year that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody.

Supporters of Maja T. have criticized the conditions of detention as well as the defendant’s chances for a fair trial in Hungary, where the right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, last year designated antifa as a terrorist organization.

Antifa, an umbrella term for loosely affiliated far-left activists and groups that resist fascism, fascists and neo-Nazis, resembles more an ideology than an organization, though some have embraced militant tactics. Hungary designated antifa a terrorist organization after a similar move by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In comments to the courtroom after the verdict was read, Maja T. called the trial “politically motivated.”

“But I still have a friendly smile, as well as a moral code, a universal moral code,” Maja T. said.

Maja T. has complained about the conditions of detainment. Speaking to The Associated Press outside a hearing in Budapest last year, the defendant’s father, Wolfram Jarosch, said Maja T. had been held in “solitary confinement” and subjected to “degrading conditions.”

“The rule of law in Hungary is very, very doubtful,” Jarosch said.

Wednesday's conviction can be appealed.

Another alleged assailant in the 2023 attacks, Italian anti-fascist activist Ilaria Salis, was jailed in Hungary for over a year following the assaults, resulting in a diplomatic dispute between Rome and Budapest over her treatment in detention.

Salis was released to house arrest in May 2024 and released a month later after she gained legal immunity by winning a seat in the European Parliament. Hungary continues to demand that she be returned to face trial and prosecutors have sought an 11-year sentence.

Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, accused of assaulting and injuring neo-Nazis in Budapest in Feb. 2023, who faces 24 years in prison, enters a court room in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb.4, 2026, at the Budapest-Capital Regional Court. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Wolfram Jarosch, center, the father of Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, accused of assaulting and injuring neo-Nazis in Budapest in Feb. 2023, who faces 24 years in prison, sits in court in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb.4, 2026, at the Budapest-Capital Regional Court. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, accused of assaulting and injuring neo-Nazis in Budapest in Feb. 2023, who faces 24 years in prison, grimaces while reading a statement in court in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb.4, 2026, at the Budapest-Capital Regional Court. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, accused of assaulting and injuring neo-Nazis in Budapest in Feb. 2023, sits handcuffed after the verdict was read in court in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb.4, 2026, at the Budapest-Capital Regional Court. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Maja T., a German anti-fascist activist, accused of assaulting and injuring neo-Nazis in Budapest in Feb. 2023, grimaces as the sentence is read in court in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb.4, 2026, at the Budapest-Capital Regional Court. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — Armed extremists killed at least 162 people during attacks on two villages in western Nigeria, a lawmaker said Wednesday, in one of the deadliest assaults in recent months.

The attacks targeted the villages of Woro and Nuku in the state of Kwara on Tuesday evening, Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area, told The Associated Press.

He said the attacks were carried out by the Lakurawa, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State group.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen killed at least 20 people in a village in western Nigeria, the Red Cross said Wednesday, the latest in a surge of attacks that has plagued the West African country.

Hundreds of armed men attacked the village of Woro in the state of Kwara on Tuesday evening, Ayodeji Emmanuel Babaomo, the Red Cross secretary in Kwara state, told The Associated Press.

“Based on the information we have received, scores of people were killed but we don't have an exact number yet,” he said.

Babaomo said the Red Cross has been unable to reach the affected communities because they are in a remote area — about eight hours from the state capital and near Nigeria's border with Benin.

Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in statement released Wednesday the attack was a “cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” in response to ongoing military operations against armed extremists in the state. He did not provide a figure for the number of people killed. State police did not comment.

Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, with an insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions over recent months. Intercommunal violence is also prevalent in the central states.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, gunmen killed at least 13 people in the village of Doma in the northwestern state of Katsina, police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said in a statement Wednesday.

Investigations were underway to determine the circumstances and identify those responsible, he added.

Last week, armed extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 36 people during separate attacks on a construction site and on an army base.

On Tuesday, the head of U.S. Africa Command said the United States had sent a small team of military officers to Nigeria, the latest step in its response to the security crisis. In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on a cell affiliated with the Islamic State group in Nigeria.

Nigeria has been in the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. following threats by President Donald Trump to attack the country, alleging it is not doing enough to protect its Christian citizens.

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Shibayan reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Associated Press writer Afolabi Sotunde contributed to this report.

FILE - Nigeria police officers stand guard during a candle light procession in honour of all protesters killed nationwide at the recently economic hardship protest, in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, file)