Italian AFA activist Ilaria Salis, a newly elected member of the European Parliament, has been released from custody in Hungary after being granted immunity from prosecution.
Salis, who was previously charged and imprisoned for gross acts of violence against designated nationalist protesters during Hungary’s Day of Honor, is now apparently free from any legal punishment.
Ilaria Salis, a 40-year-old teacher and leading member of Italy’s violent AFA movement, has been the subject of international attention since her arrest in Budapest last year.
Accused of taking part in an assassination attempt on participants in a nationalist rally in Budapest, the case set off a lengthy legal process in which Salis, who was held in handcuffs and leg irons, has always maintained her innocence.
According to the prosecutor, the AFA extremists, including Ilaria Salis, attacked a man in his 40s with iron pipes and batons in the Gazdagrét district. According to the police, the activists mistakenly believed that the man was one of the participants in the nationalist demonstration.
Ilaria Salis is an Italian communist who participated in extreme violence against Hungarian Nationalists.
Italian communists put her on the ballot while she was in Hungarian prison.
She won the votes and now can’t be prosecuted under parliamentary immunity.
This is the Left! pic.twitter.com/GUcygjGUDP
— Klaus Arminius (@Klaus_Arminius) June 11, 2024
Risked 20 years in prison
The Italian left-wing extremist was facing 20 years in prison for attempted murder. However, and remarkably, she will now escape prosecution, as Fria Tider reports.
This is because she has just been elected to the European Parliament, and as a newly elected MEP she is criminally immune, meaning that she can no longer be prosecuted for crimes committed before her election – unless a majority of MEPs vote to lift her immunity.
Reactions to Ilaria Sali’s release have been mixed, as the case has attracted attention and her actions have stirred emotions both in Italy and internationally.
Rome has already reacted strongly to her treatment, calling for “a fair trial and humane treatment”. As for Hungary, the government there has defended its actions, despite some international criticism and protests from the Italian left.
Ilaria Salis was elected as a representative of the left-wing party Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS), which is part of the same group in the European Parliament as the Greens and newly elected MEPs Alice Bah Kuhnke, Isabella Lövin and Pär Holmgren.