Violent clashes between police and protesters in Budapest

“An aggressive crowd of few hundred people unceasingly and violently” attempted to break through police lines in a coordinated manner following a student protest in Budapest on Friday evening, the Budapest police headquarters said on its website.

Police checked the identity documents of 15 people and filed reports against two for violent behaviour against an officer, the statement said on Saturday. Police showed “great patience” and acted in a lawful, professional and proportionate way, it added. The statement confirmed information announced at a press conference late on Friday that two people were apprehended for an alleged violent act against an officer.

The Budapest police has initiated an administrative investigation for abuse of the right of assembly and violations linked to the use of pyrotechnical devices. Investigators will carry out further analysis of recordings made at the unlawful assembly, it said. After the pre-announced student protest ended on Friday, a group of people moved from Oktogon to Heroes’ Square after 7pm, police said. They provoked officers verbally at first and later also physically, pushing them and throwing objects at them, including beer cans, plastic bottles, smoke canisters and large metal screws, the statement said.

Police repeatedly instructed them over loudspeakers to stop their unlawful action. Despite the fact that the law on police would have allowed the use of means of coercion, police showed restraint and used only bodily force to hold back “the violent participants of the unlawful assembly”, the statement added.

The original march: