An Italian anti-fascist activist has been released from house arrest in Budapest after being elected to the European parliament, which meant she gained immunity from charges relating to an alleged attack on neo-Nazis.
The case of Ilaria Salis, 39, a teacher from Monza, near Milan, sparked diplomatic protests and anger in Italy after she was brought to court in Hungary in chains, her hands cuffed and feet locked together.
She was arrested in Budapest in February last year after a counter-demonstration against a neo-Nazi rally. Salis was charged with three counts of attempted assault and accused of being part of an extreme leftwing organisation. She denied the charges, which carried a jail term of up to 11 years.
In a letter to her lawyer, she detailed the conditions she had faced since her arrest: cells infested with rats and bugs, not being allowed to wash for days at a time, and a lack of urgent medical care. In May she was granted house arrest in Budapest.
Salis won her seat as a candidate with the Greens and Left Alliance, which won about 6.8% of the Italian vote on Sunday.
After her election as a member of the European parliament, her lawyers requested her release based on the immunity enjoyed by EU lawmakers. The court responded that it was awaiting the official communication of her election to the parliament.
On Monday Salis called her lawyers in Italy to inform them that she had received the decision of the Hungarian judge releasing her from house arrest.
“Finally! We are delighted by the news coming from Budapest, MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and fulfil her new role as indicated by hundreds of thousands of voters,” said Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni, of Italy’s the Greens and Left Alliance party, in a joint statement.
“Our thanks go to all those who, like us, have been outraged and have not accepted the terrible condition in which she was held in Orbán’s prisons over these months. Now she can defend civil and social rights of the most vulnerable together with us. We look forward to welcoming her,” they said, referring to Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
Salis is expected to return to Italy by Monday, her 40th birthday.
Gergely Gulyás, a Hungarian government spokesperson, said: “Sending a criminal to the European parliament does not benefit either the European parliament or the voters.”
He said the election of Salis in Italy made for “a negative image of Italian democracy and of a portion of the voters’ will that wanted to send a criminal to the European parliament”.
