Hate crime: Far-right attacker sentenced to prison

A rather unusual private prosecution criminal trial, which concluded on 28 April 2025, with the announcement of a non-final verdict, began in October 2022, at the 2nd and 3rd Districts Court. Since the public prosecutor had previously abandoned the victims of the hate crime, the victims had to prove the defendants’ guilt, not the prosecution.

The attack 

The attack itself happened six years ago, on February 9, 2019. On that day, far-right groups commemorated the 1945 Breakout of the Hungarian-German troops, their biggest annual event. This commemoration is usually accompanied by an anti-fascist demonstration. After the event, a group of students participating in the counter-demonstration was attacked in a nearby café by a group of people dressed in black.

Two of them were physically assaulted and flags representing LGBTQ and student movements were taken from two other young people. One university student was bleeding from the ear due to three punches by one of the attackers. The incident was quite sudden and lasted less than a minute. The police who arrived on the scene could not catch the attackers. 

On the same day, a far-right website published a victory report and a photo regarding the violent action. In addition, CCTV cameras captured the perpetrators on tram line 6 and in the surrounding area. Besides, an anonymous caller identified two of the attackers by name. The police were able to confirm that they were indeed at the crime scene during the assault. One of the attackers admitted this, in fact he said that one of his peers jumped into the crowd where the crime happened. The man, accused by his accomplice, denied his involvement in the crime and did not provide substantial testimony. 

The criminal procedure

Regarding one of the suspects, the police found that there was not enough evidence to charge him, even though, at the very least,he was at the scene and supported his accomplices in taking the flag by his presence, and later took photos himself.

In the case of the other attackers, the police submitted a recommendation for indictment to the prosecution. However, despite the evidence, the prosecution found it insufficient to press charges for a hate crime. As a result, the criminal proceedings were terminated. Even though Borbála Ivány, the lawyer representing the victims from the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, filed an appeal, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Budapest did not take the case to court.

 The substitute private prosecution

After this decision, the victims decided to continue the legal procedures, and relying on the evidence gathered during the police investigation, they were seeking justice through a private prosecution.

Viktor Mák, accused the two perpetrators identified by the police of violence against a member of the community. In fact, he managed to obtain high-quality photographs of all the seven attackers. However, despite the clear evidence, the police refused to investigate the other five. In the end, only two defendants were left facing charges.

(Due to the unjustified refusal to investigate the five remaining attackers, apart from the domestic procedures the victims turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg with the help of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.)

The judgment

On April 29, the 2nd and 3rd Districts Court found the first defendant guilty of the felony of violence against a member of the community, committed as an accomplice. The judge sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended for a probationary period of two years, during which the 34-year-old man will be placed under probation supervision. Furthermore, he is required to attend at least 15 sensitivity training sessions aimed at promoting acceptance of others, and he must document his experience in an 8–10 page report.

According to Viktor Mák “It would have been easier to forget it, to suppress the case within myself, but I couldn’t. I cannot accept that someone is attacked because of their political beliefs. We pushed this forward because the case is not just about us. The verdict reinforces that the fundamental values of our society—respect, tolerance, and nonviolence—are not up for negotiation.”

The court acquitted the second defendant, but the judge clarified that this was not due to the absence of a crime. Rather, it could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt if his participation in the group of seven attackers supported the perpetrators. Therefore, due to insufficient evidence, he could not be convicted as an accessory.

The private prosecutor, Viktor Mák, disagreed with this and announced his appeal already before the first-instance court. During the trial, it was proven that the second defendant did not end up at the scene by chance, in fact, he moved together with the attackers and also appeared in a “victory photo” after the crime. 

This partial legal victory has a disturbing consequence. Although Viktor Mák, as a private individual, succeeded in carrying out the role of the state and securing the punishment of a perpetrator, under the current ruling, the assaulted victim must pay around 250,000 forints (~€ 620) in criminal court costs because of the acquittal of the 2nd defendant. 

Borbála Ivány, the victims’ lawyer from the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, said after the hearing: “The verdict is a serious wake-up call for the police and the prosecution to conduct in-depth investigations, especially in cases involving crimes that violate human dignity, and to protect the victims.”

Our client who was attacked must pay 250 000 forints (approx. 620 euros) of the criminal costs. If you can, please contribute to the legal costs with a donation via this link.