The German Foreign Office has become involved in the case of a non-binary German individual who is being held in Hungary. The German embassy is reportedly advocating for “better detention conditions” according to a Foreign Office spokesperson speaking to the “Spiegel”.
According to diplomatic sources, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is pushing for improved detention conditions in her talks with the Hungarian government. She has also met with the parents of the individual in Thuringia. Additionally, State Minister for Europe Anna Lührmann has interceded on behalf of a fair treatment with her Hungarian counterpart.
The individual in question is accused of assaulting alleged participants at a far-right extremist gathering in Hungary in February 2023. They were arrested in Berlin in late 2023 and extradited to Hungary in June 2024, where they have been in pre-trial detention since then.
The Berlin Kammergericht did not consult the Foreign Office before making the decision to extradite, the “Spiegel” reports. While this is not necessarily required, it is considered usual in such political cases.
The German Constitutional Court has subsequently ruled the extradition to be unlawful. There are doubts as to whether the accused in Hungary can rely on a rule of law procedure. The detention conditions are also being criticized, with the individual having been in isolation for months.