Meloni demands a speedy trial in the case of the chained woman

The 39-year-old man's trial has received international attention in recent days, after photos from the courtroom began circulating. The pictures show the Italian in chains, a treatment that many described as “inhumane.”

Ilaria Salles was arrested in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in February 2023, on suspicion of beating people who participated in a far-right demonstration. According to the prosecutor, Salles and a group of other people entered Hungary with the aim of attacking right-wing extremists, which the 39-year-old Italian denies.

The issue is political Sensitive due to the close relationship between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.

When the two leaders met during an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Meloni reportedly raised the issue, Reuters reported.

“What the Hungarian Prime Minister and I talked about is making sure that our citizens are treated with dignity and respect and get a fair and speedy trial as well,” Meloni told reporters afterward.

At the same time, she said that chains and shackles are not abnormal in Hungary, even if they are not used in Italy.

– This is how it is done in some sovereign countries, even in the West.

Hungarian government He defended his treatment of the Italian.

“Sure, she was in chains in the courtroom, and yes, she spent 11 months in custody. But inhuman? Not directly, no,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs wrote on X on Wednesday.

In a message Ilaria Salles wrote critical of her detention conditions nearly a year ago Watchman.

“For a whole month, I have been sitting with another prisoner in a cell with an area of ​​less than seven square metres, including the bathroom. “You spend 23 hours out of 24 hours in a completely closed cell… In addition to bedbugs, the cells and corridors are filled with cockroaches and rats.” I wrote in the message.

Sallis also claims she had a lump in her breast and was supposed to have it scanned in March last year, but was only allowed treatment in mid-June.

“But I did not receive a report. Rather, it was handed over to the prison doctor, who refuses to hand it over to my lawyer.”

Ilaria Salles was charged with three counts of attempted assault and accused of belonging to a left-wing extremist group. If convicted, she faces eleven years in prison.