On Wednesday, it was reported by local media that house arrest in Budapest was being granted to 39-year old Ilaria Salis, an elementary teacher and left-wing activist from Monza, Italy. The Budapest Capital Regional Court of Appeal made the announcement after previously rejecting the defense motion on March 28 confirmed.
As reported by Salis’s Lawyer Gyorgy Magyar to the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), wearing an ankle monitor is one of the conditions of Salis’ house arrest. Additionally, a bail of 40,000 EUR will need to be paid by Salis’s father.
Salis has been in a Hungarian prison for the past 15 months awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting far-right neo-Nazi sympathizers during the annual ‘Day of Honour’ celebrations. If convicted, Salis could face up to eleven years in jail.
The ‘Day of Honour’ is an event that commemorates an unsuccessful breakout attempt by 28,000 German and Hungarian troops in 1945 when the Soviet Red Army was laying siege to the city. As per the European Parliament, the Hungarian Government failed to impose an effective ban on the event, thus placing the security of Hungarian citizens at risk.
In February, images of Salis being led into court with her feet and hands in chains caused a great outcry in Italy, leading for calls from the media and public for the Rome’s right-wing government to provide more assistance. The outrage was covered by Reuters.
Expressing concerns over Salis’s detention conditions, Antonio Tajani, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of Italy stressed the need for a fair trial and respect for Salis’s basic rights. The press release by the Italian Government on this matter can be found here.
In addition to the unacceptable incarceration conditions that Salis was subjected to, she also revealed the deplorable state of her Hungarian prison cell in a letter she wrote last year.
Adding another layer to the story, Salis has also been selected by the Italian Green and Left Alliance, with her father’s agreement, to stand as their candidate in the European elections scheduled to take place in June of this year. This news has been reported by Reuters.