The Italian parliamentarian, who was released after winning a seat in June, faces a process of lifting her immunity at the request of Hungarian justice: “I want to make sure that I have a fair and equitable trial, and a procedure of this nature does not can take place in Hungary”
Chained in Orbán’s Hungary: trial of an Italian anti-fascist amid allegations of mistreatment and Meloni’s caution
The nightmare that the anti-fascist activist Illaria Salis lived for months in a prison in Budapest resurfaces now that she is in Strasbourg as an MEP after having won a seat in the European Parliament in the June elections. The Hungarian justice system has asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of the parliamentarian from the Left group, thus resuming the persecution that began on February 11, 2023, when she was arrested. “I have already been declared guilty by Mr. [Viktor] Orbán and Mr. Laszlo Kovacs, along with many other members of Fidesz and its sister parties in other countries,” said the MEP from the Green and Left Alliance in an appearance before journalists a day after learning of the authorities’ request. Hungarian.
It was the politicians of Fidesz, the party of far-right Prime Minister Orbán, who announced this decision before the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, formally announced it in plenary session, which is how the mechanism works. After the request for the lifting of immunity, the matter goes to the legal affairs commission (JURI), which will analyze the case and before which Salis will be able to defend himself. “I want to make sure that I have a fair and equitable trial, and a procedure of this nature cannot take place in Hungary,” said the MEP, whose image chained in court went around Europe and placed the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, in a complicated situation.
Salis participated in an anti-fascist demonstration against the parade of neo-Nazi organizations on the so-called “Day of Honor” to remember the failed attempt by Nazi soldiers and collaborators to break the Soviet army’s siege of the city in 1945. Before the march, neo-Nazi militants They were attacked in the street by a group of hooded men. The day after, Salis was arrested when she was in a taxi with two other German activists, accused of having participated in the attack. She has always denied the charges.
“They put me in jail without any explanation, and then they arbitrarily accused me of having committed these acts,” he stated this Wednesday before recalling that this story does not fit with the statements of the witnesses. “I was imprisoned for more than 15 months in Hungary in inhuman and degrading conditions, which have already been investigated by the authorities here in the European Parliament, as well as in the Italian Parliament. The hygienic conditions were atrocious. I was unable to communicate with my family for more than six months, and was also subjected to repeated interrogations, the aim of which was to force me to sign a false confession. I was locked in my cell more than 23 hours a day. These conditions are equivalent to torture,” he recalled.
“Considering that in a country that is characterized by being illiberal, how can the courts, then, in a fair manner, judge the case of someone who has already been accused of being guilty?” Salis has asked about Hungary, a country to which the EU opened a procedure under article 7 for systematic violations of the rule of law. The intention of the Hungarian judges is for the European Parliament to lift the immunity that MEPs enjoy from Salis in order to judge her.
She is convinced that the hand of the ruling far-right is behind this decision. “It is no coincidence that this request for the waiver of my immunity was transmitted on October 10,” he said in reference to the debate with Orbán in the European Parliament that took place the day before on the occasion of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU. Salis intervened in that session, which ended with La Izquierda standing singing the anthem of the anti-fascist resistance ‘Bella ciao’, to accuse Orbán of promoting a “novel form of fascism” in a country in which “freedom of expression and the rule of law is not respected, civil society is repressed, the oligarchs have become rich, the rights of minorities are violated and racism has become an acceptable phenomenon” while the Government “promotes the resentment of Hungarians against an external enemy”, in reference to the EU, to “maintain its power”.
The extreme right has placed Salis in the target. “We have a violence problem here. Mrs. Ilaria Salis (AVS), from La Izquierda, has attacked with a hammer and has just been released from prison. Violence comes from the left and we have seen it not only in the United States, but also here. And that is why I ask that this lady and her collaborators be registered, so that they do not enter here sneaking weapons,” said Austrian far-right MEP Georg Mayer (FPÖ/Patriots) at the first plenary session of the legislature held in July. “The far right has already shown its true face, Salis has fundamental rights and was imprisoned by Orban for it. It is an honor to have her here and with us she will fight against her regime. “He is here on behalf of everyone, including Hungarians,” responded Manon Aubry (LFI), co-president of The Left.
Salis is now in the hands of his colleagues in the chamber and, especially, of the European People’s Party, which has the ability to tip the balance to one side or the other. The JURI committee will have to make a recommendation on whether to accept or reject the request to lift immunity and the plenary session of the European Parliament makes the decision by simple majority (more if it is that it’s not). The MEP from La Izquierda has not commented on what she expects from the EPP as it is still early. “This happened yesterday,” he responded to journalists.
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