What Ilaria Salis did in Hungary and what she risks

On 11 February last year Ilaria Salis , 39, a primary school teacher in Monza and an anti-fascist activist, was arrested while riding in a taxi with two other German citizens. She and Tobias Edelhoff were charged with violence and injuries, the third arrestee must answer for planning the attacks.

The magistrates charged the Italian with both the offence of bodily harm and of belonging to the anti-fascist organisation Hammerbande, which aims to 'hit' alleged neo-Nazis with hammers. For the prosecution, Salis is alleged to have participated in two acts of violence on 10 February. One against a man - mistaken for a right-wing extremist because of his military clothing - in Gazdagre' ti square, and another against the extreme right-wing musician La' szlo' Dudog, whose photos with his face swollen then went around the web. On 29 January, the trial began.

The pictures of Salis with handcuffs and shackles on his feet and wrists triggered an international controversy. On that occasion, the other German defendant pleaded guilty and received a three-year prison sentence. In contrast, Salis continues to profess his innocence by waiving his plea bargain. Recently, on 28 March, his request for house arrest was again rejected, this time in Hungary. The next hearing is on 24 May: a victim and two witnesses will be heard.

The indictment last November carries with it a request by the prosecution for a sentence of 11 years in prison. Salis faces up to 24 years in prison. Orbán's government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacz, sent a clear message: 'We must make it clear that no extreme left-wing group should see Hungary as a kind of boxing ring where they can come and plan to beat someone to death,' he stressed on X.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International Italy, a human rights organisation, highlighted the degrading conditions in which the woman is being held, as reported by her family members and her lawyers, and pointed out that the lack of translation of part of the court documents and access to the videos deposited as incriminating evidence violate the internationally recognised right to a fair trial.