The French justice refused, this Wednesday, April 9, to deliver to Hungary the anti -fascist Albanian Rexhino Abazaj, aka “Gino”, also invoking “risks” with respect to torture and the right to a right trial in this country of the European Union.
Hungary accuses an activist of the right to housing, as a dozen people, having “brutally attacked neo -Nazis” in Budapest in February 2023, while neo -Nazis in the Hungarian capital organized a commemoration in the Hungarian capital.
Arrested in Paris in November 2024, “Gino” was released under judicial supervision on March 26, with the support of many personalities. I was waiting to know the position of the Paris Court of Appeals about a possible installment to Hungary that claims it.
Threatened outside the French borders
This Wednesday, during the deliberation, the president of the extradition chamber spoke of several reasons that justify the refusal to present the thirties to Budapest.
“There are risks of damage to the guaranteed rights” by articles of the European Court of Human Rights (CEDH), related to the prohibition of torture and the right to a fair trial, it emphasized in particular.
The extradition house also raised the judicial control of the activist. But “if it crosses borders,” “another country can carry out the European mandate that is still disseminated,” he warned the president by heading to Rexhino Abazaj. The mandate was issued in November 2023.
“A very positive decision”
Shaded Skull, glasses, dark suit and red tie, “Gino” left the courtroom accompanied by his family, to the applause of his supporters.
“I can stay in France, I am protected from the Hungarian regime that promotes neo -fascism and offers a search for anti -fascism,” he reacted to AFP, the Albanian who grew up in Italy and spent several years in Finland, before reaching France in 2024.
The thirty also praised “a very positive decision” for him, but also for other activists. “There are other anti -fascists sought by Hungary, others in prison, but France has shown today that it should not be subject to the request of a country such as Hungary, authoritarian and neo -fascist,” he said.
The other European countries “can decide to follow the example of the French judges,” they expected the activist, who received, through several stands, the support of several hundred personalities, including former French justice minister Christiane Taubira or British filmmaker Ken Loach.
“It is a brave decision, which not only addresses detention conditions, but also the independence of Hungarian justice against Hungarian political power,” said Master Youri Krasoulia, one of his lawyers. “In this case, the independence of the judges is not insured since the dimension is political,” added Maître Laurent Pasquet-Marinacce, his other advice.
Viktor Orban criticized for his authoritarian drift
Other activists had been arrested in February 2023. Like Iliaria Salis, an Italian teacher, he imprisoned more than a year in Hungary, then under house arrest, before being released after his choice in the European Parliament. Like Gino, Italian justice refused to give Gabriele Marchesi, a 24 -year -old Italian arrested in November 2023 in Milan, in Hungary.
On the contrary, Maja T., a 24 -year -old German activist who is considered non -binary, was delivered by Germany to Hungary in the summer of 2024.
Since his return to the Chief of the Country in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has strengthened his control while putting the counterpodies in Step, an authoritarian drift sentenced several times by the European Commission and sanctioned by European justice.
Source: BFM TV
