“The European Parliament Should Not Be a Haven for Criminals”

We are hopeful that the European Parliament will lift Ilaria Salis’ immunity, so that she will not be able to escape justice, Fidesz-KDNP MEPs said in a statement.

Between 9 and 11 February 2023, five attacks were carried out in Hungary by a group of foreign members. They attacked passers-by from behind, who they thought were participants in an (unrealised) event, the statement recalls. They were brutally assaulted with various tools (such as a viper and a rubber-coated hammer). Of the nine people attacked, four suffered serious injuries and five light injuries, including Hungarian and foreign nationals.

Ilaria Salis has been charged in Hungary with three counts of attempted assault with intent to endanger life, two counts of being an accomplice and one count of being an accessory to a crime. The trial started this spring, but Ilaria Salis won a seat in the European Parliament on June 9.

On the basis of her immunity, the court suspended the proceedings against her under the relevant international law and released her from house arrest, and she returned to Italy.

Enikő Győri said that the Fidesz-KDNP MEPs respect the decision of the Italian people. However, it strongly condemns the fact that the Italian Greens and Left Alliance (AVS – Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra) ran Salis in the EP elections with the aim of hiding behind her newly acquired immunity to escape the consequences of her actions committed a year and a half ago.

In the statement, the group expressed the hope that the European Parliament, when initiated by the Budapest court, will waive Ilaria Salis’ immunity so that she will not be able to escape justice.

The Fidesz-KDNP group in the European Parliament will do its utmost to ensure that such abuse of parliamentary immunity does not happen in the future.

The European Parliament should not be a haven for criminals, call them Eva Kaili, Marc Tarabella or Ilaria Salis,” the statement concludes.

Featured image: Facebook/Liberiamo Ilaria Salis