Hungary asks European Parliament to lift immunity of Italian MEP Ilaria Salis

Hungary has asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of Ilaria Salis, an Italian MEP, who was imprisoned in Hungary on charges of attacking right-wing activists.

The topic was raised by Hungarian MEPs from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's party, Fidesz, during a plenary session in Strasbourg.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said Hungary's request had been forwarded to the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, where it will be deliberated.

Salis was convicted of three counts of attempted assault on far-right demonstrators during a protest in Budapest in February 2023 — a charge she has consistently denied.

She spent 15 months in jail in Budapest before being granted house arrest. She was then offered automatic release and immunity after being elected as an MEP for the Left Green Alliance following the European Parliament elections in June.

The former teacher sparked a diplomatic row between Hungary and Italy after she was pictured attending court in Budapest with her hands and feet chained in January 2024 — a practice Hungary insisted was standard.

Italian ministers summoned Hungary's ambassador at the time over concern about Salis and conditions in prison.

Salis, who has previously argued her sentence was disproportionate, said of Hungary's request, "The minimum conditions for a fair trial to take place in Hungary do not exist."

"I hope that Parliament will choose to defend the rule of law and human rights without giving in to the arrogance of an 'illiberal democracy' in autocratic drift which, by the mouths of even its own rulers, has on several occasions already declared me guilty before the verdict," she added.

Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs justified Budapest's request,