Ilaria Salis (born 17 June 1986) is an Italian anti-fascism activist and politic who, as of May 2024, was being held as a prisoner in Hungary.

She was awaiting trial on charges of the assault and attempted murder of neo-nazis in Hungary in February 2023.[1][2]

Candidate of the Italian Greens and Left Alliance in the 2024 European parliament election, she obtained more than 176.000 preferences, thus being officially elected to the European Parliament.

Biography edit

Salis was born in Milan on 17 June 1984 and grew up in Monza, except for a three-year interlude from 1992 to 1995 when the family lived in the United Kingdom. She graduated from Liceo Classico "B. Zucchi" in 2002 with top marks. Since childhood, she has always practised sport and, passionate about theatre, she attended various courses and acted in Monza. From high school she began her political activity in social centres, first in Monza and then in Milan, fighting for respect for rights and social equality. She graduated in Historical Sciences with honours in December 2005 from the State University of Milan. Sensitive to the problems of the disadvantaged, she attended the Professional Educator course at the ‘Don Gnocchi’ institute in Milan, successfully following all the courses. She worked as an educator for a few years in centres for problematic adolescents. In 2018 she decided to complete the studies required for teaching literary subjects in high schools and in April 2021 she obtained a Master's Degree in Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity at the University of Milan. In the meantime, she has worked for several years as an elementary school teacher in schools with multi-ethnic students and since 2021 as a substitute teacher of Literature in high schools, awaiting a competition.[3]

On 11 February 2023 Salis was arrested in Hungary, during a demonstration where they attacked some neo-Nazis commemorating an allegedly heroic Nazi regiment that fought off Soviet troops during WWII. After 11 months of pre-trial detention, during which she has been held in inhuman conditions, Salis appear at her trial "chained like an animal":[4] the footage of the trial Salis caused a great indignation in Italy, so that the Italian government strongly protested about her detention conditions. Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó criticised the Italian government's interference as unacceptable.[5]

After 466 days in prison, on 23 May Salis was placed under house arrest in Budapest.

On 18 April, the Italian Greens and Left Alliance announced Salis's candidature for the upcoming 2024 European Parliament election in Italy of 8-9 June, where she obtained more than 176.000 preferences, thus being officially elected to the European Parliament.[6] This should lead to her release.[2]

Sources edit

  1. ^ "Shackled woman in Hungary court sparks Italy anger". BBC News. 30 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/italian-activist-ilaria-salis-to-be-released-following-her-election-as-an-mep/ar-BB1nXchJ?ocid=BingNewsSerp
  3. ^ "Curriculum viatae od Ilaria Salis" (PDF). Ministero dell'interno - Documenti trasparenza. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  4. ^ Mario Di Vito (2024-02-02). "Ilaria Salis, chained like an animal, stands before a Hungarian judge". Il Manifesto - global edition.
  5. ^ "Salis Case: Szijjártó Speaks Out on Italian Television". Hungarian Conservative. 29 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Ilaria Salis has been elected to EU parliament - AVS".