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HUNGARY-CRIME-EXPLOSION
Hungarian jailed for life over 2016 Budapest bomb
BUDAPEST, Sept 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A Hungarian man was sentenced to life
in prison Wednesday after a court found him guilty of detonating a bomb in
Budapest in 2016 that seriously injured two police officers.
The Metropolitan Court in Budapest convicted 24-year-old Laszlo Gergely P.
of attempted murder, misuse of explosive materials, and preparing an act of
terrorism.
According to the judge, the defendant — who must serve a minimum of 25
years behind bars and pay legal costs of 340,000 euros ($390,000) — had no
prior criminal record and acted alone in the September 24 explosion.
Investigators had called the incident “an execution attempt” on two police
officers who recovered from life-threatening injuries caused by the explosion
but have both suffered permanent hearing damage.
The pair had been on foot patrol in downtown Budapest when the homemade,
shrapnel-packed device was detonated nearby by the defendant via remote
control.
The man, who lived in a remote part of western Hungary, had given a
detailed confession to investigators, but retracted his incriminating
statements on the first day of the trial.
Prosecutors said he sent an email to the Interior Ministry after the
attack describing how he had made the bomb, and that he wanted to capture the
police officers’ weapons.
In another email, he said he also planned to extort one million euros
($1.1 million) from the authorities, and to make further potentially deadly
attacks.
His defence lawyer sought the man’s acquittal over lack of evidence,
alleged flaws in the investigation, as well as alleged flaws in the
examinations of his mental health.
No links to political or extremist groups emerged during the trial.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1719 hrs