A Hungarian camerawoman who caused global outrage after being filmed kicking and tripping up refugees near the country's border with Serbia, has been sentenced to three years probation for disorderly conduct.
Petra Laszlo, who appeared via video link at a court in the southern city of Szeged on Thursday, mounted a tearful defense and said she would appeal.
"It was all over within two seconds," she said, adding she was acting out of panic and felt under attack. "Everybody was shouting, it was very frightening."
The incident, which occurred in September 2015 went viral after footage of her actions was uploaded to Facebook.
The court was shown a frame-by-frame examination of her actions which included Laszlo delivering a roundhouse-style kick to two people as they fled from police, including a young girl.
Later, she tripped a 52-year-old Syrian refugee carrying a child.
Judge Illes asi said Laszlo's behaviour "ran counter to societal norms" and said the facts of the case did not support her self-defense claim.
"It is not a crime if somebody acts to defend herself ... she was in danger, and she tried to avert this danger with her actions," he stated.
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| Petra Laszlo had earlier said she would sue one of the Syrian refugees she tripped [Reuters] |
Laszlo, who had earlier said she would sue one of the refugees she tripped, was fired from her job at N1TV, a private right-wing television station in Hungary.
Political tensions in Europe have been simmering over the region's refugee crisis, despite numbers plunging by nearly two-thirds.
As stated by the International Organization for Migration, about 364,000 people seeking work or refugee protection crossed the Mediterranean sea in 2016, compared to more tha one million in 2015.
Aljazeera