Hungarian Camerawoman May Sue the Syrian Refugee She Tripped

The Hungarian camerawoman who kicked and tripped refugees last month as they were running away from police is planning to sue one of the refugees, as well as the social network Facebook, because her innocence has become a “matter of honor” for her husband.

In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Petra László said she planned to sue Osama Abdul Mohsen, one of the Syrian refugees she kicked, saying: “He changed his testimony because he initially blamed the police. My husband wants to prove my innocence. For him it is now a matter of honor.”

Abdul Mohsen is now in Spain and has taken a job at one of the country's national soccer coaching academies. He worked as a coach for al-Fotuwa, a first-division soccer team in Deir Ezzor in East Syria, before fleeing the violence there.

László also said she will seek legal action against Facebook for allegedly refusing to remove threatening groups on the site and instead deleting groups set up in support of her.

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After photos and video footage emerged of her kicking and tripping several refugees, including children, László was fired by N1TV, a channel with links to Hungary's far-right Jobbik party. The station said at the time that László’s behavior was “unacceptable”.

László also told the Russian newspaper that her family might move to Russia because she felt unsafe in Hungary. “We consider Russia and we think that we will begin to learn Russian. For us it is important to leave Hungary. We will decide after the trial.”

Last week, Hungarian prosecutors said a criminal case for breach of the peace had been opened against her. Following the incident, she issued an apology, saying “something snapped” in her and she panicked when refugees were running towards her.

"I'm not a heartless, child-kicking racist cameraperson," she said in a letter to Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet following the international backlash against her actions.

The incident happened as hundreds of people broke through a police line at Röszke, close to the Hungarian-Serbian border, where thousands of migrants and refugees have been crossing every day for the last month.

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