Ilaria Salis, a 39-year-old Italian antifascist activist, has been imprisoned for nearly a year, raising concerns in Italy. Charged with assaulting neo-Nazis, she expressed dismay over the harsh conditions during her chains-clad court appearance in Hungary.
Disturbing images of Salis in court, with her hands and feet secured, grabbed attention, leading to official protests from the Italian government. Salis, a teacher from Monza, was arrested in Budapest after a counter-demonstration against a neo-Nazi rally. In a letter published in October, she detailed spending a month in a cramped, infested cell without essentials.
Furthermore, Salis revealed a delay in her March medical examination for a breast ultrasound. In mid-June, she underwent the tests, but the written report went to the prison doctor, not her lawyer.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed the case with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, despite political complexities. Hungary defended Salis’s treatment, citing the severity of the charges. Salis’s father and the Italian foreign minister criticized it, calling for respect for citizens’ rights in the EU.
The Hungarian prison service denied media allegations, organizing a press visit to Salis’s shared cell. Meloni, once close to Orbán, discussed fair treatment, emphasizing divergent stances on Ukraine.
Orbán, underscoring judicial independence, pledged fair treatment. Salis’s lawyers are considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, alleging Hungary violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting against inhuman or degrading treatment.
