Albanian antifascist Gino Abazaj surrenders to German police amid extradition fight

After years of evading authorities, Gino Abazaj voluntarily went to the Nordstadt police station in Hannover, stating that a life on the run offered no future. His attorney Lukas Theune told reporters that the activist would be moved to Karlsruhe later that night to appear before a judge handling his detention. Hungary has repeatedly demanded his extradition over accusations that he participated in violent attacks on far-right demonstrators in Budapest in February 2023.

French courts have allowed a possible extradition to Germany, where German officials also seek his transfer because German citizens were injured in the Budapest incident. Abazaj, an Albanian citizen raised in Italy, previously escaped custody in Finland and later in France, where an extradition to Hungary was blocked over concerns about the fairness of the trial. He now hopes for a fair proceeding in Germany, while also expressing solidarity with other antifascists facing prosecution.