Forgotten manhunt
Reacting to the case, several right-wing Italian politicians have stated that it is not their job to judge another country's judicial proceedings and prison conditions.
MEP Susanna Ceccardi pointed out that the Italian newspapers, one after the other, published shocking photos of the shackled woman, but few of them published the video footage showing innocent passers-by in Budapest being beaten bloody by far-left attackers.
While trying to portray her as a victim, the news outlets appear to forget that Ilaria Saris has been charged with three counts of attempted assault with intent to endanger life, two counts of being an accomplice and one count of being an accessory.
As is known, between February 9 and 11, 2023, activists of the international far left staged a real manhunt in connection with the Day of Honor event in Budapest. Five attacks took place committed by a group of men and women, who attacked passers-by from behind and brutally assaulted them with various objects. Out of the nine people attacked, four suffered serious injuries and five light injuries.
The first attack took place on February 9 on Fovam Square in the city centre, where three Polish nationals were targeted by a gang of seven to eight people: they were attacked and then beaten with vipers and other objects, Origo recalled in its article, summarizing the series of brutal incidents.
The next assault took place on February 10, when a Hungarian man was attacked from behind in Budapest's 11th district. The victim, who was on his way to work, sustained such severe injuries that he had to be taken to hospital without delay. In the evening of the same day, a Hungarian couple was assaulted in the 5th district and a German couple in the 1st district in central Budapest.
The attacks against the selected victims aimed to cause bodily harm endangering life.
With the serious, life-threatening injuries and the mental anguish caused in the victims by the humiliating circumstances of the unexpected attacks, the perpetrators intended to send a message of deterrence to the representatives of the far-right movements. The prosecutor's office has proposed sentencing the three far-left activists arrested in Hungary to prison and expelling them from the territory of Hungary. It's worthy of note, the people attacked in Budapest had nothing to do with any extremist ideology, they became targets on the basis of their clothes alone.
Italy's foreign minister took action
An MP of the Lega party posted images of the violent attack in Budapest on social media, noting that it is appalling that a person capable of such things looked after children, a reference to the fact that the accused woman previously worked in a kindergarten in Milan. Several left-wing Italian politicians have also spoken out on the issue, calling on Giorgia Meloni to contact her friend Viktor Orban.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani highlighted that all that Italy could do was to protest against the conditions of detention. Diplomatic talks on the case with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto began on January 22.
He added that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has nothing to do with Salis's case, it is not him who will decide but the independent Hungarian judiciary, stressing that Hungary is a sovereign country and the decision is up to the Hungarian authorities.
On Tuesday, the Italian foreign minister summoned the Hungarian ambassador in Rome regarding the case of Ilaria Salis. According to press reports, the Italian ambassador in Hungary has also contacted the authorities in Budapest. The minister also said that the lawyer of the accused woman detained in Budapest is in contact with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. After seeing the photos published in the media, Ignazio La Russa, president of the Italian parliament's upper house, noted that showing detainees in humiliating condition is forbidden by Italian laws. The human dignity of prisoners must be respected and their humiliation must be avoided, even if they are accused of committing a serious crime, he stressed.
Rai notes in its article on its website that the Hungarian Prison Service has issued a statement refuting and rejecting the content published in the Italian and Hungarian media about prison conditions. It is sad and unethical that the media publishes information treated as fact without consulting the other side, Rai quotes the Hungarian Prison Service as saying.
Cover photo: Footage of the attack in Budapest's 11th district (Photo: Surveillance camera footage)
