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| Camerawoman who 'tripped refugees' in Hungary faces charges Camerawoman who 'tripped refugees' in Hungary faces charges | |
| (4 months later) | |
| Hungarian prosecutors have filed charges against a camerawoman accused of kicking and tripping refugees fleeing police near the southern border with Serbia last year. | Hungarian prosecutors have filed charges against a camerawoman accused of kicking and tripping refugees fleeing police near the southern border with Serbia last year. |
| Petra Laszlo was fired from her job at N1TV, a television station with nationalist sympathies, after video footage spread online appearing to show her kicking a girl and a young man. | Petra Laszlo was fired from her job at N1TV, a television station with nationalist sympathies, after video footage spread online appearing to show her kicking a girl and a young man. |
| Her prosecution for disorderly conduct comes as political tensions mount over Europe’s migration crisis in the region. | Her prosecution for disorderly conduct comes as political tensions mount over Europe’s migration crisis in the region. |
| Hungary is holding a referendum on whether to accept EU migrant quotas on 2 October, the same day as the far-right Freedom party is standing in presidential elections in neighbouring Austria. | Hungary is holding a referendum on whether to accept EU migrant quotas on 2 October, the same day as the far-right Freedom party is standing in presidential elections in neighbouring Austria. |
| Prosecutors described how hundreds of migrants broke through a police cordon and out of a holding area and headed towards Szeged, a nearby city, in September last year. Laszlo was directly behind the police officers and filmed migrants as they ran. | Prosecutors described how hundreds of migrants broke through a police cordon and out of a holding area and headed towards Szeged, a nearby city, in September last year. Laszlo was directly behind the police officers and filmed migrants as they ran. |
| “While filming she kicked a young man in the shin with a swift kick of the sole of her right foot, and also kicked young girl around the knee with her right foot,” the prosecutors said in a statement. | “While filming she kicked a young man in the shin with a swift kick of the sole of her right foot, and also kicked young girl around the knee with her right foot,” the prosecutors said in a statement. |
| There was no evidence of a racially motivated hate crime, they added. | There was no evidence of a racially motivated hate crime, they added. |
| Laszlo was not immediately reachable for comment. Last year she told the daily Magyar Nemzet that she felt remorse over what had happened. | Laszlo was not immediately reachable for comment. Last year she told the daily Magyar Nemzet that she felt remorse over what had happened. |
| “I am practically in shock from what I did, and what was done to me,” Laszlo said. “I am not heartless [or] racist … I am a woman, a mother of small children, who has since lost her job, and who made a bad decision in panic.” | “I am practically in shock from what I did, and what was done to me,” Laszlo said. “I am not heartless [or] racist … I am a woman, a mother of small children, who has since lost her job, and who made a bad decision in panic.” |
| Prosecutors said she had not kicked a man carrying a small child, one of the accusations she had faced during last year’s online furore. | Prosecutors said she had not kicked a man carrying a small child, one of the accusations she had faced during last year’s online furore. |
| “[Laszlo] kicked toward a man carrying a child in his hands, but the kick did not reach the man. The man carrying the child still fell, because … one of the policemen tried to catch and restrain him, and he lost his balance as he broke free.” | “[Laszlo] kicked toward a man carrying a child in his hands, but the kick did not reach the man. The man carrying the child still fell, because … one of the policemen tried to catch and restrain him, and he lost his balance as he broke free.” |
| The man, a football coach named Osama Abdul Mohsen, went on to Spain where a sports school offered to find him work. | The man, a football coach named Osama Abdul Mohsen, went on to Spain where a sports school offered to find him work. |