A CAMERAWOMAN, who became infamous after she was filmed kicking refugees as they run from police, has escaped a prison sentence.
Petra Laszlo was handed three years probation for breach of the peace after the incident was captured on camera in September 2015 when her case was heard at Szeged District Court on Thursday.
Shocking footage showed her tripping up a refugee as he ran through a field carrying his young son, as well as kicking a small girl as hundreds of asylum seekers broke through police lines near the Hungarian border to make their way towards Budapest.
The Hungarian, who has vowed to appeal her conviction, mounted a tearful defence in court, where she appeared via video link.
“It was all over within two seconds,” she claimed. “Everybody was shouting… it was very frightening.”
It’s not a crime if somebody acts to defend herself
Petra Laszlo's lawyer, Ferenc Sipos
But Judge Illes Nanami told the camerawoman the her behaviour “ran counter to societal norms” and said the facts of the case did not support her claims that she was acting in self defence.
The court reached its verdict after watching frame-by-frame footage of the incident during the chaotic scenes in Roszke, on the Serbian border, on September 8, 2015.
Ms Laszlo filming nearby for online television channel N1TV when the asylum seekers attempting to pass through Western Europe broke through a police cordon and started running past.
Her lawyer, Ferenc Sipos, said she could not appear in court in person after receiving death threats and would appeal the conviction.
GETTY She claimed it was in self-defence but the judge ruled against her
Comments