Syrian, Iraqi migrants convicted for border crossing riots

Szeged (MTI) – A Szeged court of appeal in southern Hungary convicted seven Syrian and Iraqi men, most of them in absentia, in a final ruling on Tuesday for their role in a migrant riot at the Röszke border crossing in the autumn of 2015.

The court ruled that they were guilty of illegally crossing the border between Hungary and Serbia.

Six were sentenced to one-year imprisonment and banned from Hungary for four years.

A seventh man who was using a megaphone to speak to the crowd during the riot was sentenced to two years in prison, reducing an earlier three-year sentence, and banned from Hungary for six years. The court said that the sentence is suspended for one year because of his poor state of health.

Only the seventh man appeared at the court because the other six have already left Hungary and their lawyer said two of them currently live in western Europe.

Last November, a Syrian man was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for his role in the 2015 migrant riot at the Röszke border crossing station. In its non-final ruling, the Szeged court said that the man was guilty of terrorist activities involving illegal border crossing as well as coercion and violence, committed as a participant in the riot. The court also ruled that the perpetrator must spend a minimum of two-thirds of his term in prison and that he would be banned from the country.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI