Imprisoned Italy activist granted immunity by Hungary court following election to European Parliament News
Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Imprisoned Italy activist granted immunity by Hungary court following election to European Parliament

An Italian activist was released Friday from domiciliary arrest in Hungary, after being granted immunity as a new member of the European Parliament.

Ilaria Salis, a 40 years old anti-fascist activist from Monza, Italy was arrested in February 2023 by the Hungarian police after allegedly attempting to assault two right-wing demonstrators in Budapest during the Day of Honor, a commemoration celebrated by far-right forces in Europe, in which they remember the failed attempt of the German troops during the Siege of Budapest in World War Two.

Salis was elected as the newest member of the Green Left Alliance in the recent European Parliament elections, which caused the court in Hungary to grant her immunity.

Salis has described how the Hungarian authorities did not respect her rights during her 15-month detention in Hungary. In a letter to her lawyer, Salis stated she was not allowed contact with her family for 6 months of her sentence. The activist also disclosed that she was not provided with a translated version of the order of the investigating judge, and wasn’t even granted a lawyer or a translator. Salis has described how she was not given the necessary personal hygiene products, and that she, along with other prisoners, was only allowed one hour of fresh air per day.

Prisoners’ conditions remain a contentious matter in Hungary, where the government has repeatedly been accused of violating basic human rights and failing their standard of care towards prisoners. Last December, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a renowned organization in Hungary, declared prison conditions are still not up to the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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