The case of a Hungarian Madam in Germany

According to index.hu, the National Bureau of Investigation (NNI) issued an international arrest warrant against a Hungarian woman the day before Christmas, who has been living in a small Northern German town for years and has been an employee of a legal business. Her job is legal in Germany, but she can be sentenced to even 10 years of prison in Hungary. Erzsébet manages a red-light district where more than 40 prostitutes work, similarly to Amsterdam. She believes the Hungarian proceedings to be illegitimate, so she does not cooperate with the Hungarian authorities and turned to the German Senate to investigate her case.

Erzsébet manages 43 cabins. The prostitutes work in those rooms where also the passers-by can see them. If the curtain is pulled the woman is currently working. In addition, the Madam offers flats for rent as well, mainly for the women working in the brothel or for workers who stay in the town on a seasonal basis. Most of the prostitutes and the staff (including the cleaners, security guards) are Hungarian.

It is legal in Germany to work as a prostitute if you are above 18 years and you are an EU citizen. Erzsébet organizes the work of the red-light district, runs a Hungarian-language website for the applicants and helps the women to travel, index.hu wrote.

However, her job is procurement according to the Hungarian Criminal Code (Btk). It means the act of aiding someone in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer.  There is no such crime in Germany.

NNI has been investigating against Erzsébet for a year. The woman did not leave the town since December, because she is afraid she would be arrested. She complained about that she had not received anything about the case except the summons. The German authorities said that the Hungarian investigators have not contacted them yet, index.hu reported.

International law experts know that the Hungarian citizens are accountable even abroad, but practically, the criminal becomes extradited only if that act is a crime in the other country as well.

According to international lawyer Eszter Kiss, the woman can be extradited in certain cases, including the sexual exploitation of children. Kiss thinks that the Hungarian authorities issued the arrest warrant on the basis of this suspicion, index.hu told.

The NNI has not given any further information about the case because of data protection.

Copy editor: bm

Source: http://index.hu