ROME (AP) — An Italian anti-fascist activist was released from house arrest in Hungary on Friday after being elected as a new member of the European Parliament for Italy’s Green and Left Alliance, the party’s leaders said.
Local police in Budapest removed Ilaria Salis’ electronic bracelet in the Hungarian capital and her father said he will take her back to Italy on Monday when she celebrates her 40th birthday, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Salis was elected to the European Parliament during her time under house arrest in Hungary, where she is on trial and charged for allegedly assaulting far-right protesters. European Parliament lawmakers enjoy significant legal immunity from prosecution, even if the charges relate to crimes committed before their election.
More than 170,000 voters in Italy wrote Salis’ name on the ballot in an attempt to bring her home from Hungary, where she has been held for more than a year.
“Finally! We are happy with the news coming from Budapest, MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and will be able to fulfill her new position to which hundreds of thousands of voters have referred her,” AVS MPs Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni said in a statement declaration. .
Salis became a political hot potato in Italy after images emerged of her handcuffed and handcuffed in a Hungarian courtroom where she was on trial.
The Italian activist was charged with attempted murder in Hungary after he was part of a group of anti-fascists accused of attacking people they believed were linked to last year’s far-right Day of Honor.
The event, held annually on February 11, sees far-right activists commemorate the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to escape Budapest during the 1945 Red Army siege.
The alleged victims of the attack reportedly did not file a complaint with the police.
Before the European Parliament elections earlier this month, Salis’ father repeatedly expressed concerns about his daughter’s trial, saying she faced up to 24 years in prison. The Hungarian prosecutor had demanded a prison sentence of eleven years.
