Appeals court changes sentence in case of former Socialist MP charged with assault
The Budapest Appeals Court has changed the first-instance ruling in the case of evangelical pastor and former Socialist lawmaker Laszlo Donath, the court said on Friday.
Donath was accused of physical assault and indecency. An employee of the institute where he served as a pastor filed a complaint against him. The employee said Donath had attacked them on June 8, 2019, choking and threatening the employee for leaving a cleaning trolley in a place he had previously prohibited it. The accuser then also reported indecent episodes between 2017 and 2019, the court said.
The appeals court said on Friday that it rejected the indecency charges as they had been filed beyond the court deadline. It also reduced the fine imposed on Donath from 1 million forints (EUR 2,600) to 250,000 forints, it said in a statement.
The prosecution has appealed the ruling.
