Anti-fascist activist and MEP Ilaria Salis (The Left) revealed in a press release on Tuesday (22 October) that Hungary had asked to revoke her parliamentary immunity.
Salis was elected last June after spending over a year in a Hungarian prison, securing immunity from charges related to an alleged attack on neo-Nazis during a far-right event in Budapest in 2023.
Her case gained international attention when photos emerged showing her entering the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles.
The conditions of her detention in Hungary also caught the attention of Italian authorities after Salis sent a letter to the Italian consulate in January, describing the challenges she faced in the Budapest prison, including unsanitary conditions.
Now, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee (JURI) will first review the case and draft a report. The committee will vote on its recommendation, although the final decision will come from a vote in the plenary session.
According to Salis, Hungary’s request is politically motivated, occurring shortly after her plenary speech on 10 October, when Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán presented the priorities of Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU.
During that occasion, Salis also advocated for a German anti-fascist and non-binary activist extradited from Germany and currently detained in Hungary as an alleged left-wing extremist involved in attacks against far-right groups in Budapest in February 2023.
Orbán responded to Salis, asserting that in Hungary, individuals cannot attack people on the street for political reasons and then “come to the European Parliament and say, ‘Get me out of jail because I’ve committed grievous bodily harm as a criminal in Hungary.’ This is impossible!”
In response, Zoltán Kovács, spokesperson for Viktor Orbán and Hungary’s international affairs, stated that Salis was arrested and tried for “armed assaults on innocent Hungarian citizens.” Salis is “no democrat” and “no martyr” but rather a “common thug,” he said on X.
Salis has always denied her charges.
“What is at stake is not only my future but also and above all, the future of what we want Europe to be, increasingly threatened by authoritarian political forces,” she said in Tuesday’s press release.
On 10 October, Hungary’s chief prosecutor also requested that the European Parliament waive the immunity of Hungarian MEP Péter Magyar (Tisza/EPP) over alleged phone theft during a night out in Budapest.
[Edited by Martina Monti]
Source: euractiv.com
