The camera operator had been sentenced to three years of probation. Now, the Hungarian Supreme Court recognizes the attacks, but does not consider them serious enough.
In September 2015, the refugee crisis began to wake up Europe. That year, more than 1 million people crossed the Mediterranean Sea in search of refuge. By sea and on foot, hundreds of thousands of people traveled kilometers under extreme conditions. Among them were Syrian refugees, who were fleeing war and extremist Islamic groups in the country. It was at one of these moments that a Hungarian camera operator, Petra Laszlo, was filmed tripping and kicking Syrian refugees — including children — on the Serbian-Hungarian border. The images, recorded by a journalist at the scene, appeared in several newspapers. In January 2017 she was sentenced to three years probation. Now, Hungary’s Supreme Court of Justice has decided to acquit her of all crimes.
Images of Laszlo’s gratuitous violence were shared and people quickly wanted to know who the woman was. Laszlo was fired from the television channel where she worked and found guilty of the attacks. But Hungary’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled this Tuesday that, despite being “illegal and morally incorrect”, her attacks were not serious enough to be classified as criminal. Instead, the assaults were classified as “disturbances.”
With camera in hand, Petra Laszlo has a mask covering her face. Around her, hundreds of people run after breaking through a police barrier in Szeged, looking for asylum. Among them are children, some running, others carried by their parents. Without letting go of the camera, Petra Laszlo starts kicking anyone who passes by. One of the moments recorded shows a father and 7-year-old son falling to the ground. Father and son, Abdul Mohsen and Zaid, who appear in the photograph that illustrates this article, were granted asylum in Spain, where the man is now a football coach, reports the BBC.
Speaking to CNN in 2015, Abdul Mohsen recalled the episode. “The indifference of the Hungarian authorities led to that situation, causing the migrants to break through the police barrier and look for the nearest village, about three kilometers away.”
The Hungarian Government refused to guarantee food to asylum seekers who had their request rejected in order to force them to return to Serbia, giving up the right to appeal the decision. Months later, on World Refugee Day, the Hungarian Parliament approved a legislative package that made it a crime to provide assistance to anyone entering the country without legal documents, even to ask for asylum.
NA/Public