Sunday, September 23, 2018

Throwing stones is terrorism

A Hungarian court rejected the appeal of a Syrian refugee and upheld his 2016 conviction for "terrorism".

The terrorist charges stem from an incident on the Hungarian-Serbian border in 2015, at the height of Europe's refugee crisis.
Ahmed H - as he's identified in court documents, who had already been granted protected status and lived in Cyprus with his wife and children - was attempting to escort his elderly parents on their journey from Syria to Europe. A confrontation occurred between a large group of asylum-seekers attempting to cross into Hungary and police. Ahmed H was caught on tape throwing stones in the direction of police.
Eda Seyhan, Amnesty International's counterterrorism campaigner said in a statement to Al Jazeera,  throwing stones is not terrorism and the verdict rides "roughshod over the law". She added the conviction "plays into the hands of the Hungarian authorities' demonisation of refugees, migrants and those seeking to protect them".

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