AGI – “I believe that the Italian Embassy participated in at least four hearings in which my daughter was brought before the judge in these conditions”. Roberto Salis, Ilaria’s father, said this on Agorà on Rai Tre. “Until October 12th when my daughter wrote a letter – he added – we had no evidence of the treatment our daughter was undergoing. The only ones who knew and didn’t say anything were the people at the Italian Embassy in Hungary”. “We have an appointment with the (Italian in Hungary) ambassador – he continued -. I expect some action, we have had a lot of chats. This is the first time that I have had the pleasure of speaking with the ambassador. Evidently in these 11 months he had much more demanding commitments than taking care of my daughter.”
On Monday the Budapest prosecutor’s office asked for 11 years in prison for Ilaria Salis, the anti-fascist activist arrested on charges of having participated in an attack on neo-fascist militants in the Hungarian capital. According to the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, the 39-year-old from Milan declared herself innocent at the opening of the trial against her and three other defendants, all foreigners.
Gianluca Costantini – Ilaria Salis committee poster
One of them, a German citizen, pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to three years, a sentence which both the prosecution and the defense will appeal. After two thirds of the sentence has passed he can be expelled from Hungary and will not be able to return for five years. Accused of having participated, with members of the far-left ‘Hammerband’ group, in what the Hungarian authorities defined as a ‘manhunt’ between 9 and 10 February last year, Salis must answer for attempted manslaughter in conspiracy and is seen denying the revocation of pre-trial detention due to the alleged risk of flight. The hearing, in which the woman appeared with bangles on her wrists and ankles, was adjourned to May 24, 2024.
In a courtroom packed with Italian and German interpreters, the preliminary phases of the trial began during which if one of the defendants pleads guilty and accepts the prosecution’s offer of punishment, the proceedings against him are declared concluded. Salis, reports the Hungarian online newspaper ‘Index’, entered the courtroom smiling. After a brief presentation by the prosecution, her bangles were removed and she addressed the audience with a smile. After a brief comment, the statements of the defendants followed and Salis proclaimed her innocence: “I did not commit these crimes” she said.
Tajani: Orban has nothing to do with it, the judge decides the conditions
“Orban has nothing to do with it”. This was stated by the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani talking about Ilaria Salis’ situation with journalists in Transatlantico. “We made the protests. There, the detention conditions are decided by the judge then there will be the prison administration”, the detention conditions are “in contrast with community regulations and we asked to intervene and change the treatment of the prisoner, this is the only thing we can do,” he argued. “I don’t want to politicize the matter, it seems to me that here we are trying to politicize it. I am concerned about protecting the rights of an Italian prisoner”, he continued.
Tajani: the trial must be in Hungary; we can intervene on the treatment
“The hypothetical crime therefore occurred in Hungary must be tried in Hungary”, he said the vice and prime minister and foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, leaving Palazzo Chigi, where the CDM meeting took place. “We cannot interfere in judicial activity” in Hungary, she underlined. The Hungarian government “will be vigilant and intervene” to ensure that the rights provided for by community regulations are “respected”, Tajani said in a tweet.
The Hungarian ambassador summoned to Rome
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has instructed the secretary general of the Farnesina Riccardo Guariglia to summon the Hungarian ambassador to Rome for a protest against the conditions of detention of the Italian citizen Ilaria Salis. At the same time, according to what we learn, tomorrow the Italian ambassador to Hungary will make an approach to the Hungarian authorities.
The EU: prison is the responsibility of the States, respecting the standards
“We do not comment on ongoing individual cases. In general the Detention is a primary responsibility of member countries. What I can recall in a broader context is that the Commission made recommendations in December 2022 on the conditions of detention in member countries, with minimum basic standards and other elements which were also discussed in the Justice Council and on which within 18 months, Member States should report on implementation”. spokesperson of the European Commission, Christian Wigand, in the daily press briefing. “So there are ongoing discussions in a broader sense but I cannot comment on individual cases,” he reiterated.
The accusation
The facts that are contested date back to last February when the streets of Budapest were the scene of violent attacks, following the demonstration with which neo-Nazi and far-right groups they commemorated the escape attempt of the German-Hungarian troops surrounded in Budapest during the Second World War. The first attack occurred on February 9, in Fovam Square, in the center of the city, where three Polish citizens were attacked by a gang of seven or eight people. The second attack occurred the following day, February 10, in Gazdagret, against a Hungarian citizen. In the evening of the same day, a German and a Hungarian couple were attacked.
The investigations revealed that the attackers had followed each victim for a long time, some of them traveled with them on public transport, with several transfers. Gyorgy Magyar, Salis’ lawyer, has repeatedly denounced the conditions of the woman’s detention. “My client feels that she has been held unnecessarily under an excessively strict prison regime and that she is considered an international terrorist,” she told the Magyar Hang newspaper, “Initially she was not even allowed contact with her parents.”
His father, Roberto Salis, has detto RTL Hirado that he is worried about his daughter, who considers 11 years too many and that in Italy these cases are judged with much more leniency. The prison administration has rejected as “false” and branded as “lies” the accusations contained in the story made by a former cellmate of Salis to Repubblica, according to which the Italian anti-fascist was kept in a cell full of mice and insects. “The relevant legislation and various professional protocols regulate the conditions of detention with rigorous standards” writes the prison administration in a note, “Continuous hygiene checks are carried out in the institutions and the inmates receive adequate health care. And the presence of rats is a lie. The unfounded accusations seriously damage the good reputation of the penitentiary institution and its employees.”
Milan requests his extradition
The Milan city council, with 29 votes in favor and 6 abstentions, approved an agenda of the majority, the first signatory being PD councilor Alessandro Giungi, which commits the mayor and the council to “request the Italian Government to intervene towards the Government Hungarian in order to allow, as provided for by the current conventions, the extradition of Ilaria Salis to Italy to spend the period of precautionary custody in her country and to participate in the trial via videoconference from Italy”.