The assailant of a Budapest Jewish leader was sentenced to two years in prison 11 days after the attack.

The 21-year-old assailant was sentenced Monday following a “fast-track” prosecution, according to the Hungary Around the Clock news website.

He was convicted on charges of violence and causing light physical injury to Andras Kerenyi, 62, the president of the Jewish congregation of the Hungarian capital’s South Pest district, on Oct. 5.

Kerenyi was kicked in his stomach as the assailant shouted obscenities at him and told him he was going to die, according to reports. The attack came after the assailant had shouted anti-Semitic remarks through the door of the synagogue, according to Hungary Around the Clock, which also reported that Kerenyi took photos of the assailant on his mobile phone.

After the attack, Kerenyi followed the assailant while reporting the incident to police. A police patrol arrested the attacker at a nearby house 32 minutes after the assault.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Support Our Work