Ilaria Salis has been held in preventive detention in Hungary for 15 months, the trial began a few months ago. The photos in the courtroom with handcuffs and ankle chains, held by an officer with another chain like a leash, had caused a great media outcry and international reactions. Salis was accused of participating in clashes with two neo-Nazis during a demonstration.
In April she was a candidate for the European Parliament with the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS). If she were elected, immunity would be triggered which would include the blocking of the trial (it has not yet been established whether immunity would be triggered following the outcome of the polls or with the formalization of the election).
Roberto Salis was in Savona today, May 11, for the meeting “The courage to dare, for a Europe of rights” on rights and the prison situation in the European Union, organized by the Green Alliance and the Italian Left.
“The last time I heard from her, she was quite well – she explains – now she is very focused on this candidacy and is working on the electoral campaign”. Roberto Salis can only speak to his daughter Ilaria once a week, with 70 minutes of phone calls. In this period they are discussing how to prepare their candidacy for the European elections.
“This is a political problem – states Roberto Salis – in the sense that it is a process driven by political aims of Hungary and should be of interest to Italian diplomacy to ensure that my daughter is better protected. He did not make this choice to escape from the process but to have a fair trial.”
In recent days, other shocking images of a young Italian arrested in Miami, in the USA, Matteo Falcinelli, have shocked Italian and international public opinion due to the violent methods used by the US police in the arrest.
“I don’t personally know the case of the boy in Miami – says Roberto Salis – but I know that of my daughter very well. I believe that the way in which the embassy and the Farnesina crisis unit handled the matter could be improved”.
Hungary has been repeatedly targeted by the European Union regarding human rights and judicial independence; one from last January, for example, argued that Hungary does not meet the requirements for judicial independence. The latest last April which highlights shortcomings in the judicial system, conflicts of interest, threats to media freedom and fundamental rights.
“There was a resolution approved by a very large majority by the European Parliament on 24 April – concluded Salis – which highlighted the distortions of the Hungarian system. The fact that a European Union state does not respect human rights is a serious problem. We see a lot of attention on the Via Daglia case, an attention that is constantly increasing and which is bringing people closer to politics, especially many young people. It is a very beautiful thing that pleases us.”
