Italian activist goes on trial in Hungary assault case

An Italian anti-fascist activist on Friday went on trial in Hungary for allegedly attacking neo-Nazis in a case that has sparked tensions between the two EU allies.

Ilaria Salis, 39, arrived at the Budapest court accompanied by her father, with Italy's ambassador and a throng of Italian journalists also in attendance.

She left to applause after the court heard testimony from one of the victims of masked attackers and two witnesses. None of the three could personally identify Salis.

The case has been front-page news in Italy after Salis appeared in court in January handcuffed and chained, with her feet shackled.

The teacher from Monza, near Milan, was arrested in Budapest in February 2023 following a counter-demonstration against a neo-Nazi rally.

She had been jailed awaiting trial until Thursday when she was released into house arrest.

Her case has sparked tensions between Rome and Budapest despite the cordial relations between their far-right prime ministers, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Hungary's Viktor Orban, with Rome making several official complaints on behalf of Salis.

Prosecutors allege Salis traveled to Budapest specifically to carry out attacks against "unsuspecting victims identified as, or perceived as, far-right sympathisers" to deter "representatives of the far-right movement".

She was charged with three counts of attempted assault and accused of being part of an extreme left-wing criminal organisation in the wake of a counter-demonstration against an annual neo-Nazi rally.

Salis denies the charges -- which could see her jailed for up to 11 years -- and says she is being persecuted for her political beliefs.

The next hearing is set for September, with Salis's lawyer Gyorgy Magyar complaining that his client has yet to receive all the case documents in her native language.

Salis's father Roberto Salis and Italian ambassador Manuel Jacoangeli also complained that Salis's address in Budapest was read out in court, saying it put her "at risk".

 'Right side of history' 

 A defiant Salis told Italian newspaper La Stampa via her father in an interview published last week that she was "on the right side of history".

Last month, the Italian Green and Left Alliance (AVS) nominated Salis as their lead candidate for the upcoming European elections.

If the party garners enough votes on the ballot, Salis may be able to claim parliamentary immunity, which would lead to a suspension of criminal proceedings against her.

Salis's case has been highly politicized, with the Hungarian nationalist government frequently commenting on it.

It has repeatedly denounced the media for allegedly depicting Salis as a "martyr", instead pointing to what it called the "brutality" of her alleged crimes.

 'No toilet paper, soap' 

 Salis's father claims that his daughter was kept in inhumane prison conditions until January when her case received significant media coverage.

"For eight days, she was kept in a prison in a solitary cell, without being provided with toilet paper, sanitary towels, and soap... in Italy, we would consider this torture," Roberto Salis told AFP ahead of the trial.

The Council of Europe has criticized Hungary's overcrowded prisons.

Hungarian officials have denied accusations of ill-treatment.

In the past, Hungary came under heavy criticism both at home and abroad over a controversial terrorism conviction handed to a Syrian man for his role in a border riot in 2015.

Prosecutors had accused Ahmed Hamed of using a megaphone to orchestrate violence and throwing stones at Hungarian police to force them to open the border with Serbia, initially handing him a 10-year jail term.