Salis again in chains, shackles in Hungarian court

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 28 - Italian teacher Ilaria Salis was again handcuffed at her wrists, with shackles on her ankles, and led in on a chain like a leash by a police officer as she entered a Budapest courtroom on Thursday, the same as happened in a hearing on January 29. The 39-year-old from Milan has been in prison in Hungary for 13 months in relation to accusations she was involved in an attack on three far right militants. The footage of the previous hearing caused an outcry in Italy and Rome has protested about her detention conditions. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, meanwhile, has said he was shocked by the Italian reactions to the case, saying Salis is falsely being portrayed as a victim and martyr. The elementary school teacher is facing up to 24 years in jail for the alleged attack on the neo-Nazis at their annual commemoration of an allegedly heroic Nazi regiment that fought off Russian troops. A group made up of Salis's friends and lawyers said they were threatened by far-right militants as they arrived at the court on Thursday. "They were waiting for us and they insulted and threatened us in Hungarian," said Eugenio Losco, one of the lawyers. "They said shut up or we'll split open your head".
    Salis's lawyers are trying to get her put under house arrest in Hungary, which, if granted, would then enable Rome to request her transfer to house arrest in Italy. The woman's father, Roberto Salis, has said his daughter is the victim of a political trial "My daughter's situation has become increasingly a political trial as it has gone on," he told a press conference this month at the European Parliament organized by Green-Left Alliance MEP Massimiliano Smeriglio and Democratic Party (PD) MEP Brando Benifei. "On February 28 last Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto made a statement that described my daughter as guilty, voicing he hope for exemplary punishment.
    "All this in a country where there is the rule of law, and in an EU member, is unacceptable." (ANSA).