A Hungarian court sentenced a Syrian-Cypriot man to seven years in prison for illegally crossing the border and for being an accomplice in “an act of terror” during clashes with police in September 2015, state news agency MTI reported on Wednesday.

A Hungarian court sentenced a Syrian-Cypriot man to seven years in prison for illegally crossing the border and for being an accomplice in “an act of terror” during clashes with police in September 2015, state news agency MTI reported on Wednesday.

Hamed’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment. The court will issue a statement later on Wednesday. It was not clear when the court would issue its final verdict in the case.

As the holder of a Cypriot passport and therefore a citizen of the European Union, Hamed would be allowed to enter Hungary without a visa, but he was helping relatives and other Syrian citizens, MTI cited his lawyer as saying during the trial.

Nearly half of the more than one million migrants who surged into the European Union in 2015 passed through Hungary, often causing chaos at borders and along major highways.

Orban’s rightwing nationalist Fidesz party has strongly opposed EU quotas to share out the mostly Muslim migrants across the bloc and says they pose a threat to Western values and culture. Orban called Hamed a “terrorist” last June.

Orban’s tough stance on migration has helped shore up support for Fidesz among voters but it has drawn accusations of racism from the United Nations human rights chief.

The party, in power since 2010, suffered an unexpected setback at a recent municipal by-election, but remains well ahead of its rivals in opinion polls.

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