Following the announcement of the Hungarian authorities’ request to revoke her immunity, Left MEP Ilaria Salis (Sinistra Italiana, Italy) held a press conference.

Here the full statement:

“On February 11, 2023, I was arrested in Budapest during a police raid at the time of anti-fascist demonstrations against the Day of Honor.
The Day of Honor is a shameful commemoration, where thousands of neo-Nazis from all over Europe gather every year. The Hungarian government not only does not prevent such an event but actually contributes to supporting it by funding some of the organizing associations.
I was pulled out of a taxi and handcuffed without any explanation. I was arbitrarily accused of incidents that took place in the preceding days, of which I am innocent and have always declared myself as such.
There is no evidence against me, and I was not identified among the attackers by either the victims or the witnesses.

Nevertheless, I was held in pre-trial detention in a Hungarian prison for 15 months, in inhumane and degrading conditions, which have been the subject of parliamentary inquiries in both the Italian and European Parliaments.
I was confined in prolonged isolation in a dilapidated cell during the first few months, unable to even speak to my family, and subjected to repeated interrogations aimed at extracting confessions. Food and hygiene products were always in short supply, and I was locked in the cell for twenty-three hours a day, a condition that amounts to “white torture.”

The period of pre-trial detention was extremely long and harsh.

I am still at risk of a massive sentence, up to 24 years of hard prison, disproportionate to the alleged crimes, in a country where there are not even the minimum conditions for a fair trial.
I was brought before the judge during the hearings with my hands and feet chained and on a leash. Such treatment, in addition to being humiliating, also risks negatively influencing the judge.
Fortunately, those images sparked an almost unprecedented wave of public outrage in my country.
Even the European Commission, in a written response to a question regarding my case, reiterated the importance of the presumption of innocence and referred to the European directive that prohibits presenting defendants as guilty in court through the use of physical restraints, such as chains.
I remind you that Hungary has been repeatedly reprimanded and sanctioned by European authorities for violations of the rule of law, including, among other things, the independence of the judiciary and human rights. Since 2018, it has been subject to an ongoing procedure under Article 7 TEU for the risk of violating the fundamental values of the Union.

I take this opportunity to ask Mr. Viktor Orban and his spokesperson, Mr. Zoltan Kovac, a simple question.
Is it really normal in Hungary to claim that a person is a criminal, a delinquent, who has committed a crime, before a judge has issued a ruling? Is it really normal for such statements to come from high-ranking government officials, in blatant disregard of the separation of powers?
Do we really believe that under such conditions a fair trial can take place?
The first instance trial has not even concluded yet, and yet I have already been condemned by Mr. Orban and Mr. Kovac, as well as by many members of Fidesz and even patriots from other countries. In what their own prime minister calls an “illiberal democracy,” how can judges examine a defendant with the necessary objectivity and calm when that defendant is painted as a delinquent, as a public enemy, as a “terrorist” by a political power seeking to secure an exemplary conviction?

Many pro-government media outlets, such as Magyar Nemzet, which alone published dozens of defamatory articles about me in 2024, have been promoting the same slanderous narrative against me.
This persecution, which began during my detention, took on the characteristics of a true vendetta when I was elected as a Member of the European Parliament.
The constant attacks against me, evidently fabricated, are aimed at preventing me from carrying out my mandate.
In an institutional setting, during the first plenary session in July 2024, an Austrian deputy from the Patriot group, Mr. Georg Mayer, stated that “there is a deputy named Ilaria Salis who likes to beat people with a hammer, and we must prevent weapons from being brought into this chamber.”
Viktor Orban, during a visit to Italy in September 2024, said that “coming to Hungary in an organized manner and committing acts of violence against citizens walking down the street and then being elected to the European Parliament is typical of Italian style,” insulting, along with me, the entire country.
Again, Orban, during the last Plenary session in October 2024, stated: “I find it absurd that here in the European Parliament we must listen to a speech on the rule of law from Hon. Salis, who beat peaceful people with iron bars on the streets of Budapest.”

Most recently, just yesterday, Zoltan Kovacs defamed me once again, calling me a “common delinquent.”
There have been many other episodes, but I will not go into detail.
The aim of all this is clearly to prevent me from doing the work for which I was elected by 178,000 Italian and European citizens.

And it is no coincidence that the request to revoke my immunity was submitted on October 10, the day after the Plenary in which, along with many other colleagues, I intervened to harshly criticize the Hungarian presidency.

I will continue, and I hope that the Parliament will not give in to the bullying of an authoritarian government.”