Hungarian female reporter explains tripping up refugees

Petra Laszlo, the Hungarian camerawoman who was condemned by public opinion for tripping a refugee, said she thought she "was about to be attacked and had to defend herself".

"I have only now calmed down enough to write these lines. I am shocked by what I did and what happened to me. I was filming when hundreds of migrants broke through the police line. One of them rushed at me and I panicked," Laszlo wrote in a letter to Hungary's Magyar Nemzet newspaper.

According to Laszlo, because she was holding a camera in her hand, she could not see who was rushing at her.

Laszlo tripped a father holding a baby as they broke through the police barricade. Photo: Tribune

"My only thought was that I was about to be attacked and that I had to defend myself," Laszlo said. "When I watched the video, it was as if it wasn't me. I sincerely regret what I did and take responsibility. I was panicking. I'm not an insensitive person or a racist cameraman who kicks children."

In a video that went viral earlier this week, the 40-year-old camerawoman was seen tripping a father carrying a child, causing them to fall to the ground, and kicking a young girl as she ran away from a migrant camp near the town of Roszke, not far from the border between Hungary and Serbia.

According to AFP, Laszlo was fired from N1TV, a television station run by the far-right Jobbik party, which opposes immigration, and faces charges of disturbing the peace. She was arrested and questioned by police on September 10, but later released.

As a mother, Laszlo truly regrets not noticing the child running towards her.

"It's not easy to make the right decision when you're panicking," she confided.

Petra Laszlo expressed remorse for what she had done. Photo: Fameimages

Photos and videos related to the incident posted on Facebook's "Wall of Shame" yesterday attracted more than 35,000 likes.

"You are a disgrace to your own profession," one person commented.

However, Laszlo believes she does not deserve to be hunted and threatened after what happened.

“I am just a woman, now an unemployed mother with a young child, who made a bad decision in a state of panic,” she said.

Hungary has become a hotspot as thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa transit through the country in search of asylum in Germany and other countries. About 20,000 people crossed from Hungary to Austria and Germany last weekend.

According to VNE