Beaten
journo remains defiant
Sándor
Csintalan, anchorman for the right-leaning Hír TV, last week said that four
assailants who brutally bludgeoned him in his garage were motivated by his
clashes with the extreme right.
Csintalan,
57, said that four hooded men beat him in his underground garage last Tuesday
night, called him a “Jewish hireling” and told him he should “know his place”.
Csintalan was pictured bleeding profusely from head wounds, but suffered no
broken bones.
Mugging a
ruse: Csintalan
He said the
attackers stole HUF 7,000 from him, but that this was just an attempt to cover
up the fact the beating had political motives. Speaking to Klubrádió from his hospital
bed, Csintalan said that he had to speak out against aggression in right-wing
organisations and that he would not be silenced.
Csintalan,
a former Hungarian Socialist Party MP who this year joined right-of-centre
opposition party Fidesz, has been a target of venom from the right-wing website
kuruc.info and other extremist groups in recent weeks.
Following
Csintalan’s claims, kuruc.info questioned whether the beating really took place
as described, saying that he had altered the details of the attack in
successive statements. All political parties came out to condemn the attack and
police said they would offer a reward to anyone who could provide information
that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.
