He reiterated his innocence and the impossibility of a fair trial in Hungary. Ilaria Salis, after Hungary’s request for revocation of immunity, points the finger at Viktor Orbán and the representatives of his government, who consider her guilty even before the trial. A significant political influence, which would prevent the judges in Budapest from evaluating in a “fair, just and proportionate” manner the position of the Italian MEP, who risks 24 years in prison based on accusations of having violently attacked right-wing extremists.
The process to evaluate the revocation of immunity will take several months, during which Salis will have to precisely understand his defensive strategy in a European Parliament strongly shifted to the right, despite the official majority being centre-left, and where the MEPs of Patriots for Europe, the group founded by Viktor Orbán in this legislature, represents the third largest political group in the European Chamber.
Salis’ defense to avoid the revocation of immunity
After the news of Hungary’s request for revocation of immunity, Ilaria Salis presented herself to the press in Strasbourg: “I am innocent as I have always declared. There is no evidence against me and I was not recognized either by the attackers or by the victims nor witnesses. However, I was held in prison in Hungary for over 15 months in inhumane and degrading prison conditions which were also the subject of parliamentary questions, both in the European and Italian Parliaments”, said the MEP, elected last June 9th from the ranks of the Greens and Left Alliance in the European Parliament.
To continue to avail himself of immunity and avoid trial in Budapest, Salis will first have to convince the members of the European Chamber’s legal commission (JURI), then the vote is expected during the plenary session. It will take several months to arrive at the final vote. During this period the Italian MEP will have to refine her strategy. At the moment everything is based first and foremost on the “inhuman and degrading” conditions he has suffered in Hungary since his arrest.
“In the first months I was confined in appalling hygienic conditions, placed in prolonged isolation, I was not able to communicate even with my family for more than six months and I was subjected to repeated interrogations aimed at fabricating a confession,” she said. highlighted. She then spoke of a condition that amounts to “white torture”, which would have debilitated her, both physically and psychologically.
Because Ilaria Salis is accused in Budapest
Salis is charged in Budapest with attacking a group of neo-Nazis on Honor Day, which on February 11 celebrates the Hungarian and German soldiers killed during the siege of Budapest in World War II. Salis escaped trial by obtaining immunity following her election as an MEP on 9 June. On 10 October in Strasbourg there was a direct “clash” between the two.
EU, Salis against Orban, back and forth in plenary in Strasbourg
Salis accused the “tyrant” Orbán in the plenary, the Hungarian prime minister called her a beater. Immediately afterwards came the request from Fidesz MEPs for immunity to be revoked. On 22 October, Hungary’s request for official revocation arrived, also announced in the chamber by the President of the EU Parliament Roberta Metsola.
The Hungarian government’s direct attack against Ilaria Salis
After the communication, the Hungarian government intervened promptly. “The fact that you (Salis, ed.) act as if you were some kind of victim is not only disconcerting, but also absolutely disgusting,” Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs wrote on X. “I would like to clarify this once again: you were not arrested for your ‘political opinions’, you were arrested and tried for incidents of armed aggression against innocent Hungarian citizens. This whole farce is a joke, you are not a democrat and you are not a martyr . You are a common criminal,” the spokesperson added.
Precisely on this “exposition” of the Hungarian government regarding the trial, Salis will focus in the Juri commission to denounce the impossibility of a fair trial in Budapest. “But is it really normal in Hungary to say that a person is a criminal and a delinquent who has committed a crime before a sentence has been issued by a judge? Is it really normal for these statements to be possible without being confirmed by data from exponents of the government in defiance of the separation of powers?”, Salis told journalists.
“Not even the first level of judgment has yet been completed. Yet I have already been condemned by Mr Orbán and Mr Kovacs, as well as by many members of Fidesz and also by Patriots from other countries”, added the MEP. It highlighted a real “persecution”, also carried out by the Hungarian pro-government media. The aim is that I cannot carry out the job for which I was voted by 178 thousand Italian and European citizens”, argued Salis. Compared to her expectations regarding protection from the Italian government, she responded laconically: “This question you have to do it to them.”
Salis must convince the popular people
Beyond his personal experience, the MEP will aim to highlight the numerous complaints and reports relating to Hungary, where the rule of law is degraded and influenced by the increasingly authoritarian regime, such as that of Viktor Orbán. The same reasons why Fidesz was expelled from the European People’s Party a few years ago. Ursula von der Leyen has made the Hungarian Prime Minister her bitter enemy, as highlighted in the last plenary. However, popular MEPs in the new legislature are increasingly inclined to vote in a similar way to the ultra-right, which unites the Patriots, Reformists and Conservatives and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups. If Salis fails to convince a large part of the EPP of his good faith, the revocation of immunity would be a concrete horizon.