Was Maja T. also involved in an attack on a saleswoman?
Maja T. is in pre-trial detention in Hungary. Politicians from the SPD, the Green Party, and the Left Party are expressing their solidarity. Now Maja T. is suspected of another crime.
The left-wing extremist Maja T. is alleged to have seriously injured neo-Nazis in Budapest. T. is now also suspected of having been involved in a 2022 robbery of a store in Erfurt selling the Thor Steinar clothing brand, popular among right-wing extremists. A saleswoman was seriously injured in the robbery. Nevertheless, more and more left-wing politicians are expressing solidarity with the 24-year-old Maja T., who is in pre-trial detention in Budapest.
During the robbery on April 23, 2022, the saleswoman was thrown to the ground. According to a statement by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which recently filed charges against five women and one man, one perpetrator punched the saleswoman numerous times in the head and upper body while she was lying on the ground. An accomplice struck the victim at least 20 times with a telescopic baton. Other attackers sprayed butyric acid and pepper spray, among other substances, extensively throughout the store, the latter also targeting the saleswoman. The store's furnishings and merchandise caused more than €60,000 in damage.
At the same time, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, members of the association raided Thor Steinar stores in Magdeburg, Halle, and Schwerin. Nele A., Paula P., Luca S., Moritz S., and Clara W. were arrested on January 20, and Emilie D. on March 20 of this year.
Blows with hammers, fists and batons against the head of the victimsThe alleged members of the so-called Hammer Gang are accused of, among other things, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. The indictment states, among other things, that starting in April 2022, they, along with other supporters of the group, carried out various violent attacks against people they believed to be from the "right-wing scene."
Emilie D. apparently played a particularly prominent role in the attack. According to the indictment, she threw the saleswoman to the ground and beat her. According to the investigation, on January 12, 2023, Emilie D., along with Johann G., the alleged head of the Hammer Gang, and others, attacked two people in Erfurt. They approached them from behind and knocked them down. Then, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, they repeatedly struck them forcefully in the head with their fists, batons, and a hammer, causing life-threatening injuries.
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Erfurt thugs participated in attacks in Budapest between February 9 and 11, 2023. The acts occurred on the sidelines of the so-called Day of Honor, for which right-wing extremists from across Europe travel to the Hungarian capital every year.
Prison conditions are more pleasant for non-binary people in GermanyMaja T. is also in custody in Budapest because of the attacks in Erfurt. In December 2023, the person, then living under the real name Simeon T. and living as a man, was arrested in Berlin. Since his imprisonment in Hungary, the person has requested to be called Maja. He identifies as non-binary, meaning neither male nor female. In Hungary, non-binary and transgender people are considered disadvantaged in terms of human rights, which creates an additional argument for bringing T. back to Germany, where conditions are considerably more liberal than in Hungary.
According to information from taz, the Federal Prosecutor's Office is also investigating T. on suspicion of involvement in an attack on the Thor Steinar store in April 2022. The right-wing extremist magazine Compact and the small right-wing extremist party "Freie Sachsen" also reported on the case, citing investigators. The Federal Prosecutor's Office itself has not commented on the investigation.
Politicians from left-wing parties are speaking out in favor of this. Members of the Bundestag Sebastian Roloff (SPD), Helge Limburg (Greens), and Luke Hoß (Left Party) visited Maja T. in the prison hospital in Hungary on Monday. Maja T. had previously ended a hunger strike.
Maja T. was flown to Hungary in a night operationThey reported on their visit in a press conference on Tuesday. Among other things, they complained about the prison conditions. Their request to complete their high school diploma in order to begin a distance learning course after serving a prison sentence was also denied.
Maja T. was extradited from prison in Dresden to Hungary by helicopter at the end of June last year in a nighttime operation. The operation was kept secret, presumably to prevent violent protests by the left-wing scene. The Berlin Higher Regional Court had approved the extradition. The following day, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the extradition unlawful in expedited proceedings.
Green Party politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt also draws attention to this. She visited Maja T. in prison in June and is calling for his return to Germany.
Berliner-zeitung
