The Hungarian authorities announced on Friday that they are to put camerawoman Petra Laszlo on trial for kicking and tripping refugees, Alkhaleejonline.net has reported.
Laszlo, who was working for Hungary’s N1TV, was caught on camera kicking and tripping refugees on the Serbian border. She was arrested and fired from her job, and then made a public apology. In an official statement, the local court said that she has been released on bail pending a trial, noting that the Public Prosecution had questioned her and decided that she is to be tried over “violations”.
Footage of the incident showed Laszlo deliberately sticking her leg out as a desperate man carrying a crying child ran past her at a holding area in Roszke. She was also filmed kicking out at a young refugee girl.
Laszlo tried to justify what she did, claiming that she was scared as people ran past her. “It is hard to make good decisions at a time when people are in a panic and many hundreds of people are rushing at you,” she insisted. “I am just a woman, a mother who is now unemployed, who made a bad decision in a panicked situation. I am truly sorry.”
