Did you know that from now on in Hungary you can be put in jail because of a threatening message?
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If you write in a message that you will kill somebody or you send a video about such an intention, the punishment can be 1-5 years in prison.
Based on a new decision of the Curia (Supreme Court) of Hungary, one committing such a crime can be sentenced
to 1-5 years in prison
regardless of whether they would like to commit the crime or somebody else who just entrusted them to send the message – Magyar Nemzet reported. The Curia had to decide on the issue because there was no uniform protocol for the courts to follow.Â
For example, some judges sentenced perpetrators to prison only if they were entrusted by a third party to send threatening messages or videos. Thus, only so to say contract killers were convicted in such situations. Meanwhile, other judges sentenced even those people to prison who sent a message or a video about their intention. Based on the decision of the Curia,
the Hungarian courts have to follow the latter and stricter process.Â
Furthermore, it will not count from now on whether the perpetrator was young or old. In Hungary, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is, in general, 14, but in such severe crimes like murder, it is lower, only 12. However, in the cases of very young people, the courts have to examine whether the perpetrator understood the consequences of his deed.