Italian teacher detained in Hungary for alleged assault released after election to European Parliament – ​​Euractiv

Italian anti-fascist activist Ilaria Salis was released from house arrest in Budapest after being elected a member of the European Parliament (MEP) this weekend, her lawyer Gyorgy Magyar told Reuters on Friday (June 14).

MEPs benefit from strong legal immunity from prosecution, even if the allegations relate to offenses allegedly committed before their election.

The 39-year-old teacher was charged last year in Hungary for taking part in attacks by an anti-fascist group against people it considered far-right activists. Salis and her family said she was innocent.

The Budapest Capital Regional Court will ask the European Parliament to suspend Salis' immunity because she is accused of violent crimes and her case is ongoing, the court said in a statement Friday.

Police removed the electronic bracelet from Salis' ankle, his lawyer said. Salis' father was expected to arrive in Budapest later Friday to take her back to Italy, Magyar added.

Salis has been detained in Hungary for more than a year in a case that prompted the Alliance of the Greens and Italian Left to name her among their candidates for the European elections.

“It’s not a really positive image of Italian democracy,” Gergely Gulyas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, said Thursday at a press briefing on Salis’ election.

“This does not mean much good either for the European Parliament or for the voters who decided to send a criminal to Parliament,” Gulyas said.

Salis has not been convicted and her trial is ongoing.

The case sparked outrage in Italy in February, after she was brought to court with her hands and feet tied and a chain around her waist.

The issue is politically sensitive due to the long-standing ties between Italy's right-wing Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Orbán.

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