Strict entry, huge press interest and a defendant smiling broadly in the packed courtroom - this is how the proceedings started due to the Antifa attacks began.
The courtroom of the Metropolitan Court was full of Italian and German interpreters, as the court began its preliminary session on the Antifa attacks on Monday morning. If any of the defendants admits their crime and accepts the prosecution's offer, the trial ends.
Ilaria Salis, the Italian first-rate defendant, came into the room smiling after her companion, the German man who was under arrest. His last partner, the third-ranking, also German woman, was allowed to walk freely to the dock, she hid her face behind sunglasses.
After a brief presentation of the indictment, the handcuffs of the Italian defendant were eased, and the woman turned to the audience with a smile. The woman from Milan is being held in medium security, while the German man is in high security, so his handcuffs remain.
After a short comment, the defendants' statements followed.
I did not commit these crimes, said Ilaria, and then the German man admitted his guilt, but did not accept the extent of his punishment. The third accused German woman did not accept it either, she did not want to testify, and then added that she would not be present at the next trial and did not consider herself guilty. The court refused to allow the accused to stay away from the trial.
The Capital Court sentenced the second-rate defendant to three years in prison and expelled him from Hungary for five years for the attempted crime of life-threatening bodily harm committed in the criminal organization. He may be conditionally released after two-thirds of his sentence has been served. The prosecution appealed for aggravation, the accused appealed for mitigation, so the decision is not final.
The court maintains second-order arrest and third-order criminal supervision in the case of the accused. This decision is also not final, because the defendants' lawyers have appealed.
As is known, last February a series of horrific attacks began on the streets of Budapest. The first incident took place on Thursday, February 9, in Fővám square in the city center, where three Polish citizens were attacked by a gang of seven or eight people: they ran over them and then started hitting them with vipers and other tools. The attack lasted a minute, after which the members of the group ran away from the scene.
Two of the three victims suffered serious, broken injuries.
The next atrocity happened the next day, February 10, when a Hungarian man was attacked from behind in Gazdagrét. On the same day, in the evening hours, a Hungarian couple was assaulted in Bank Street in District V, and a German couple in District I. The investigation revealed that the attackers followed each victim for a long time, some of them traveled with them by public transport, with several transfers.
The National Penitentiary Command stated that it strongly rejects the claims written in last Sunday's HVG article, as it contains untruths.
The HVG article in question - which was published under the title The Italian anti-fascist imprisoned in Budapest is kept in a prison full of rats, bugs and jerk guards - is based on the "lies of a former prisoner of foreign nationality", according to the statement issued by the prison.
The penitentiary organization considers it "sad and unethical that certain media outlets report the mud-throwing of a former inmate without consulting the other party, treating it almost as a fact."
The organization notes that the relevant legislation and various professional protocols regulate the conditions of detention with strict regulations. Continuous hygiene checks are carried out in the institutions, and the inmates receive adequate health care. And the presence of rats is a "lie", the announcement adds.
The baseless accusations seriously damage the good reputation of the penal institution and its employees, to which we have a right! - declares the penitentiary organization.
