The 20th of January, 7 Antifascists accused in the Budapest-trials gave
themselves up to the police. One of them is Zaid from Nürnberg. He took the courageous decision to face the justice-system. But his situation is different from the others and especially precarious. All except Zaid are searched with a german and hungarian arrest-warrant.
Zaid is searched only with hungarian arrest warrant. This makes his situation more vulnerable, since he is especially threatened to be extradited to rightwing-authoritarian Hungary. Since 4th of February, he is imprisoned in extradition-prison in
Köln-Ossendorf until a court decides about the extradition.
The danger to be extradited to Hungary and suffer from degrading conditions in prison is still present. If Zaid gets extradited he is facing a prison sentence up to 24 years in disastrous conditions. This possibility is not at all hypothetical, the prosecution of Antifascists in Hungary is a known reality.
Zaid has always been targeted by german investigations, is accused of criminal association in Germany and the police has already a file about him, which his lawyer was informed about. But since his arrest, the german authorities are arguing that there
wasn’t a criminal action in Germany. The contradiction is obvious. Lately it became public that the court responsible for the extradition is, same as for the others, the appeal-court in Berlin. Exactly the same court that had extradited Maja one year ago. Even the decision of the national constitution-court, calling Maja’s extradition to Hungary illegal, doesn’t seem to bother the court at all.
The court is very motivated to collect promises from hungarian authorities about the prison conditions being fine, while refusing requests from Zaid and his lawyer. The court claims Zaid wouldn’t be engrained enough in Germany. Growing up and having a family in Germany is apparently not enough. And the hungarian authorities are supposed to have a fast response, so why would the court bother about the lawyers arguments in the meantime.
The prosecution of Zaid and the other Antifascists is a political scandal. This case is not only about democratic repression but an attempt to break down the Antifascist movement by targeted and extraordinary repression and public prejudgment. The authorities want to prosecute and specifically punish those who have a stand against the ongoing fascistization in the european parliaments and streets. The accusations are not at all justifying the state’s surveillance methods which are put in place. Taking into account the risk to be extradited, the political line is especially visible. Hungary is critizied regularly for its nationalist-authoritarian politics and the dismantling of constitutional rights for minorities. Zaid would face a racist, untransparent and unfair trial. It is known internationally that Hungary’s prisons are not at all according to human rights. This is making the situation for Zaid and the others a lot worse. The responsible police agency and courts are well informed about this aspects. But we can’t trust in them, as we have already seen with the extradition of Maja. Decisions of the constitutional court are simply ignored by the saxonian police, which is especially famous for their political motivation in the prosecution of Antifascists.
We are worried about Zaid ending up in such a inhumane and degrading
situation. Just some days ago, the TAZ (german leftist newspaper) published a interview with Zaid, his lawyer and Tobi ( article in germanhttps://taz.de/Linken-droht-Auslieferung-nach-Ungarn/!6073407/ ) Tobi talks about the racist conditions in hungarian prisons. Non-white prisoners are receiving less food, getting insulted and called with goat-sounds) Especially shocking are the reports about the violence. Guards are regularly beating up prisoners, especially refugees. According to TAZ, in the time Tobi was imprisoned, one prisoner died after such a attack.
Nobody should be exposed to those conditions. But the german authorities are up to repeat their actions and since Zaid doesn’t have german nationality, they doesn’t seem to bother at all.
What needs to be done
It is now crucial that the solidarity work for Zaid is further intensified and that antifascist structures use all the resources and networks available to them. Even though Zaid is currently still imprisoned in Germany, this does not mean that he is safe. It is likely that further political repression could follow and we must ensure that Zaid and other anti-fascists are protected from it, especially from an extradition to Hungary. We need to act now and stand up together for Zaid and all other anti-fascists. It is not enough to act when it is already too late. Solidarity must be shown now and at all times – with Zaid and with all those who oppose fascism and
reactionary tendencies. The Solidarity Campaign for Zaid (https://de.indymedia.org/node/502983) is ment to stop the extradition proceedings of Zaid and highlights his particular situation in the trial complex. We as BASC support the campaign and call for all antifascist structures and organizations to participate in it through a broad spectrum of public actions.
And once again to clarify: we must all take action NOW, if we want to prevent another comrade, Zaid, from being imprisoned for possibly a quarter of a century in Hungarian prisons.
The Fundamental Rights Committee has also sent an open letter to the Berlin Court of Appeal. You are welcome to sign it. (https://www.grundrechtekomitee.de/details/offener-brief-an-generalstaatsanwaltschaft-berlin-fordert-zaid-a-nicht-nach-ungarn-auszuliefern)
We as a solidarity committee therefore say clearly: Anyone who stands up for the
defense of anti-fascism against state repression must also show solidarity with Zaid – at all levels.
We demand nothing less than his immediate release and the exclusion of any extradition to Hungay.
Get active yourself! Organize rallies, demonstrations and events. For questions and material you can write us an email (https://www.basc.news/kontakt/)
Freedom for Zaid – freedom for all anti-fascists!