Italian Antifa Activist Salis Released from Prison

Ilaria Salis at court hearing in Budapest on 28 March 2024
Ilaria Salis at court hearing in Budapest on 28 March 2024
Screenshot/YouTube
Ilaria Salis, an Italian anti-fascist activist, was moved from a Budapest prison to house arrest on Thursday morning after spending over 15 months in custody. The court had ordered the payment of a €40,000 bail.

Italian Antifa activist Ilaria Salis will remain under house arrest until her trial concludes, with another hearing scheduled for Friday in Budapest. However, she could be released if she wins a seat in the European elections. The third court hearing in her case started this morning.

Ilaria Salis, an Italian anti-fascist activist, was moved from a Budapest prison to house arrest on Thursday morning after spending over 15 months in custody. ‘We finally have the chance to hug her again; we hope this is a temporary stage before finally seeing her in Italy,’ said Roberto Salis, her father, who is also an activist from Milan.

This change followed a Hungarian court’s decision on 15 May to uphold Salis’ appeal against her pre-trial detention. Now under house arrest in an apartment in Budapest, Salis will be monitored with an electronic bracelet. It took several days to implement the judges’ decision after a €40,000 bail payment was made.

Salis was arrested on 11 February 2023, along with two German activists, on charges of participating in the assault of three people as a member of a criminal organization. Salis’ lawyers are hopeful for a commitment ‘from the Italian authorities to secure Ilaria’s immediate transfer to Italy,’ as required by European law.

After months of diplomatic tensions and protests against Hungary over Salis’ pre-trial detention, her case saw a significant development when she was nominated by the Left Green Alliance for the upcoming European elections in June.

While mainstream media outlets continue to refer her as a ‘teacher’ and the victims she is believed to have assaulted as ‘neo-Nazis’, the Italian NGO Liberiamo Ilaria Salis (which translates as ‘Let’s Free Ilaria Salis’) posts banners on social media reading ‘Free All Antifas – On the Right Side of History’ (sic) and keeps referring to her as a ‘comrade’.


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Ilaria Salis, an Italian anti-fascist activist, was moved from a Budapest prison to house arrest on Thursday morning after spending over 15 months in custody. The court had ordered the payment of a €40,000 bail.

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