Defendant in Budapest violent attacks sentenced to 3 years in prison

The Budapest Municipal Court’s first-instance ruling also ordered the man to be expelled from Hungary for a period of five years on completion of his prison sentence, the court’s press department said in a statement on Monday, adding that another man and a woman are co-defendants in the case.

According to the indictment, the defendants, all foreign nationals, were members of “an organisation of young adults sympathising with far-left ideologies” who had planned on “taking the ideological fight to militant far-right sympathisers who espoused fascist views” by carrying out violent attacks and taking part in demonstrations and protests.

The court determined that the defendants had planned to assault their victims with deadly weapons “so that the humiliation they felt” over the unexpected attacks would cause them “mental anguish” and act as a deterrent to representatives of far-right movements.

They said the defendants had travelled to Hungary to take part in coordinated attacks.

At Monday’s preparatory hearing, the secondary co-defendant pleaded guilty to the charges and waived his right to a trial. The court accepted the plea and sentenced the man to three years in a maximum security prison and expelled him from Hungary for five years.

Prosecutors had sought an 11-year prison sentence for the primary defendant and 3.5-year sentences for the two co-defendants. They also wanted the primary defendant expelled from Hungary for 10 years and the other defendants for 5 years each.

Both the prosecution and the defence are appealing the verdict.