András Fekete-Győr was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence – Magyar Nemzet also reported on him. In the second instance, the former president of Momentum was sentenced to one year in prison for throwing a smoke grenade at the 2018 demonstration. The court suspended the sentence for two years of probation.
Although, according to András Fekete-Győr, he was only exercising his freedom of expression when he participated in the demonstration, it is important to keep in mind that throwing smoke grenades at police officers performing their duties is still considered violence once morest an official. Not by chance.
In response to our newspaper’s inquiry, lawyer Tibor, head of department at the National Institute of Criminology, said:
“The basis of the operation of all pyrotechnic devices, including the smoke bomb, is that it converts chemicals into combustion by-products, thus creating gas, heat, light or sound, or a combination of these. The smoke generated by a smoke bomb contains non-metals and metal oxides, and in some versions also metal salts, which are mostly not particularly harmful substances, but there may be cases where they aggravate existing respiratory problems if the person inhaling them has them. In their case, they can cause both acute and chronic side effects. These tools are in no way intended to be directed at or directed at other people. Not to mention that at an event, in the crowd, it is impossible to maintain the safety distance that would be mandatory for such a smoke bomb.”
András Fekete-Győr’s smoke bomb campaign was also covered by Hír TV, the video of the specific case can be viewed here:
There have also been examples of serious injuries
It happened not so long ago that two young people from Nagymágoc were seriously injured when a smoke grenade exploded in their hands. The pyrotechnic product was given to the two young people by one of their friends, who would have taken a photo holding the smoke bomb. Standing on the street, the smoke grenade was lit, and then it exploded in the hands of the girls.
They suffered permanent hand injuries during the accident
he announced on the website of the police.