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Ilaria Salis was freed: the Hungarian police took away her electronic bracelet. She was on trial accused of beating up neo-Nazis
Ilaria Salis is free.
The 39-year-old Italian teacher, on trial in Hungary on charges of beating up neo-Nazis, has already called her lawyers in Italy, Eugenio Losco and Mauro Straini, to inform them that she has received the Hungarian judge’s order which freed her from House arrest.
The Hungarian police left the Salis home in Budapest around 1pm, Italian time, after taking them removed the electronic bracelet.
The request for release had been filed by his
Hungarian lawyer Gyorgy Magyar immediately after his election
as an MEP with the Greens and Left Alliance (strong of 175 thousand preferences), which occurred in the elections of last 8 and 9 June, and this morning the new MEP was released from house arrest.
Initially it was expected that Salis would have to wait for the official proclamation for her release from prison, so much so that her family had already bought tickets to join her to celebrate her fortieth birthday in Budapest on Monday: now Salis will be able to celebrate it in Italy.
Bonelli and Fratoianni: «Finally, we’re waiting for you»
“Finally! We are happy with the news that comes from Budapest”, declared Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni of Avs in a joint note. «Now the MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and she will be able to carry out her new role for which hundreds of thousands of voters have indicated her. Our thanks go to everyone and all those who, like us, have been outraged in recent months and have not resigned themselves to the terrible condition in which she was held in Orban’s prisons. Now you will be able to defend the civil and social rights of the weakest together with us. We are waiting for you».
What Ilaria Salis did
As summarized here, Salis was arrested on 11 February 2023 on charges of having attacked some neo-Nazis during the weekend dedicated to the celebration of the «Day of Honor», in Budapest, between 9 and 12 February 2023. In that weekend, while neo-Nazis, skinheads and hooligans descended on the Hungarian capital to commemorate a Nazi battalion which, in 1945, attempted to prevent the siege of Budapest by the Red Army, Salis allegedly attacked two extremists with truncheons. The videos showing the attack show unrecognizable people, as their faces are covered. The two attacked suffered minor injuries. Salis, who at the time of her arrest was found in possession of a retractable truncheon (“she had brought it with her for possible self-defense”, her father later said), has always said she was innocent. Since 11 February 2023 you had been in prison, detained in degrading conditions; and only a few weeks ago she had been placed under house arrest.
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June 14, 2024 (changed June 14, 2024 | 1:42 pm)
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