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."
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