TV reporter warned after entering parliament with live rounds

Hír TV reporter Attila Császár has been found guilty of misuse of ammunition by the Public Prosecutor’s Office after being found in the possession of one empty and one full cartridge of ammunition at an entrance search into the parliament. However, due to the circumstances of the case, he was released with a warning.

According to the public police report of the ransacking of the Hungarian television building on September 18, 2007, 28 warning shots were fired by police to maintain police protection and safety. These shots caused no injury or property damage. Attila Császár told state news agency MTI that he had been given the ammunition during the live coverage of the Szabadság tér events. He displayed these during the transmission, placed them in his bag, and later forgot about them. During the investigation, it was determined by the arms expert that the ammunition was marked BM, denoting munitions fabricated exclusively for the police force.

Császár stressed in court that between the time of the live coverage and October 2, he had been to the Prime Ministerial Office and the Delegate's Office Building on several occasions. The ammunition had been in his bag the entire time, and no one had objected to its content at any stage. He added that since the live coverage in September, he had not been contacted by police in connection with the ammunition.

The court's justification of the sentence is that misuse of ammunition is subject to between two and eight years imprisonment with the mildest punishment a one or two year suspended sentence. The court did, however, find that sentence to be too harsh in this case and issued the reporter with a warning that leaves him with a clean record.

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