The Court of Cassation validates the surrender to Germany of anti-fascist activist “Gino”

The Court of Cassation on Wednesday rejected the appeal of “Gino”, a radical Albanian anti-fascist activist, thus confirming his surrender by France to German justice for the alleged attack on neo-Nazis marching in Budapest in 2023. This thirty-year-old, who until now lived in Paris under judicial supervision, fears being subsequently handed over by Germany to Hungary for alleged violence against these neo-Nazis, attacked with batons and hammers in February 2023.

He faces a sentence of up to 24 years in prison in this country and up to 10 years in Germany, with the alleged victims being of German nationality. “The Court of Cassation blindly endorsed the German demands, the abusive nature of which is glaring, without any consideration for the personal security of Gino Abazaj, it is deplorable,” commented to AFP Laurent Pasquet-Marinacce, lawyer for “Gino” with Youri Krassoulia.

Germany had issued a European arrest warrant to demand the activist

The highest court of the French judiciary thus agreed with the opinion of the public prosecutor's office by rejecting the appeal of Rexhino Abazaj, alias "Gino", which resulted in his handing over to the German authorities. On August 19, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the handover to Germany of this activist whom France had previously refused to hand over to Hungary out of fear for his fundamental rights. He immediately appealed to the Court of Cassation.

In 2025, when France refused to hand him over to Budapest, Germany issued a European arrest warrant to demand the activist for the same facts. “Who knows if Hungary has not tried Gino in his absence and will not ask Germany to serve his sentence in Budapest?”, worries Maître Pasquet-Marinacce. The lawyer also warns against the idea that the rights of litigants would be better respected in Hungary after the departure of the nationalist Viktor Orbán.