Accessibility links

Breaking News

Defendant In Shackling Outrage In Hungary Poised To Win Italian MEP Seat, Seek Immunity


Italian Ilaria Salis's appearance shackled hand and foot in a court in Budapest in January outraged Rome.
Italian Ilaria Salis's appearance shackled hand and foot in a court in Budapest in January outraged Rome.

The lawyer for an Italian woman whose shackling in a Hungarian court over charges she attacked neo-Nazis whipped up tensions between Budapest and Rome has said her client will seek freedom from Hungarian house arrest after her apparent election to the European Parliament on the list of an Italian Left-Greens Alliance. Teacher and left-wing activist Ilaria Salis, 39, could face a long prison sentence in her ongoing trial over alleged violence to counter a radical right-wing rally in Hungary in February 2023. Italy's Il Messaggero newspaper quoted lawyer Eugenio Losco and Green Europe spokeswoman Angela Bonelli as saying a request for immunity was certain after her confirmation as a member of the Europan Parliament (MEP). Italy summoned Hungary's ambassador after Salis was led into the courtroom in chains in January in a move Rome said went "too far."

  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG