Prisoner in Hungary

Ilaria Salis remains in a cell. Her father: 'At this point I will turn to the Quirinal'.

The key hearing in the trial of the Italian activist in prison for over a year took place in Budapest. For judge Jozsef Sós "the circumstances have not changed" and "there is still the danger of escape".

by Redaction Rome

28 March 2024

A Budapest udienza su Ilaria Salis, in aula ancora con manette e catene

4' min read

Key points

Family waiting
Schlein: slap in the face unacceptable, Meloni reacts immediately
Salis' friends and lawyers threatened in Budapest
A delegation of Italian opposition MPs attended the hearing
The arrest 13 months ago

4' min read

Ilaria Salis remains in her cell: the court in Budapest rejected the request for house arrest in Hungary, submitted by the 39-year-old's lawyers, who has been in prison for 13 months on charges of attacking two extreme right-wing extremists. "The circumstances have not changed," said Judge Jozsef Sós, adding that "there is always the danger of escape".

The 39-year-old Milanese lecturer entered the courtroom handcuffed at the wrists, shackles and chains at the ankles and a chain pulled by an officer like a leash, exactly as happened in the hearing on 29 January. The accusation is that he assaulted three far-right militants. Today's hearing was a much awaited by Ilaria and her family. The Italian diplomatic work aimed at softening up a government such as the Hungarian one, which has so far stood firm against the Milanese antagonist, seems to have been of no use.

Budapest: 'government does not interfere with judges'

"Hungary is a state under the rule of law and the government does not interfere in any way in the jurisdiction of the judiciary," the Hungarian Foreign Ministry announced through its press office.

Roberto Salis: I will call the Quirinal

The decision to reject house arrest for Ilaria Salis was "yet another show of strength by the Orbán government," said Roberto Salis, the activist's father. "I expected it a bit," he added, "Ilaria is considered a great danger here. Ilaria's father arrived yesterday with his wife in Budapest with the hope of bringing their daughter back to Italy. The final goal was the request for house arrest in Italy or, alternatively, in Hungary, already filed but rejected by today's decision. The father, before the judge's decision, had stressed that 'after everything that has happened and after how much they have exposed themselves, it would be embarrassing for the Italian institutions if they were denied domiciliari'.

'At this point I will have to make a call to the Quirinale to try to get a hand from the President of the Republic'. This was said by Roberto Salis, interviewed on Piazza pulita on La7. "I no longer know what to do with the appeals to the Italian government," Salis said among others. "Today I did not receive any call from the Italian institutions. There were seven parliamentarians at the trial, none from the majority." For Ilaria's father, 'it is useless to argue in a country where the laws of law are totally trampled on'. "The motivation for the denial" of house arrest for Ilaria, he said among other things, "was already ready" before the hearing.

Schlein: inadmissible slap, Meloni react immediately

"Ilaria Salis will remain in prison in Budapest. After being once again brought in chains on her wrists, ankles and leash, today the Hungarian judges also decided to deny her house arrest. An inadmissible slap in the face to the rights of a detained person, of one of our compatriots. We expect Giorgia Meloni's government to react, immediately,' said PD secretary Elly Schlein.

Salis's friends and lawyers threatened in Budapest

Meanwhile, friends and lawyers of Ilaria Salis were threatened today. 'Shut up or I'll break your head': this is what a group of a few right-wing extremists told Ilaria Salis' lawyers and friends upon their arrival at the court in Budapest. "They were waiting for us and insulted and threatened us in Hungarian," said lawyer Eugenio Losco. "They filmed us with mobile phones, filmed us and our translator told us that they were threatening us," Losco continued. The group of about fifteen Italian people threatened included Zerocalcare, as well as members of Giuristi democratici.

A delegation of Italian opposition MPs attended the hearing

Supporting Ilaria Salis' cause today was a delegation of opposition parliamentarians, from the PD to the M5S, from Avs to Italia Viva, but 'it is a pity that it is only them because a civil rights and rule of law issue like this should be supported by everyone'. There was also Michele Rech, aka Zerocalcare, who drew for Internazionale 'the well' that the Milanese antagonist later mentioned in his diary. It was precisely the visit to the prison that was the first commitment of the Salis family yesterday, who later in the afternoon also met the Roman cartoonist, together with Ilaria Cucchi and Nicola Fratoianni. Ilaria 'is as well as a person who spends 23 hours a day locked in a cell can be,' the father explained. Ilaria, her father had said, was "confident and hopeful" not so much for the house arrest in Italy, already denied several times by the Hungarian court, as for the one in Hungary that would allow her to face at least outside prison a trial that is expected to be long.

The arrest 13 months ago

Today's hearing comes 13 months after the arrest and is essentially the first hearing after the preliminary hearing at the end of January. On that occasion, too, Salis was brought into the courtroom with cuffs on her wrists and chains on her ankles, with another chain on one wrist held like a leash by a prison officer. A treatment that Hungarian justice reserves for those belonging to a terrorist association, which is one of the charges against her. Therefore, what Roberto Salis hoped for did not happen: 'tomorrow (today, ndr) these measures should be relaxed'.