European Parliament rallies around Ilaria Salis: first rejection of immunity lift request

Brussels – After a tense morning, Ilaria Salis can breathe a first sigh of relief. The European Parliament’s legal committee has ruled against the request by Hungarian authorities to lift the MEP’s immunity. By a single vote, 13 to 12, Salis can now look forward with confidence to the final vote in the House, which will take place during the plenary session from October 6 to 9.

In fact, traditionally, the hemicycle confirms the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). At the vote count, the split in the populars proved decisive. Salis could count on the support of 11 MEPs out of 25, belonging to The Left, Greens, Renew, and S&D groups, and was equally sure of the hard-line stance of seven colleagues belonging to the extreme right groups. Therefore, the seven EPP MEPs who are members of the JURI tilted the scale. 

The same rapporteur for the request to lift immunity, the Spanish member of the European People’s Party Adrián Vázquez Lázara, described it as a “dangerous and ugly precedent,” because “in the Salis case, a political game is being played, but against the rules that stipulate immunity covers only alleged crimes committed during the mandate, not before.” According to Vázquez Lázara, Hungary may appeal to the European Court of Justice.

The League’s delegation in the European Parliament, which is part of the Patriots group founded by Viktor Orban, called the vote “a Euro-shame led by the left and traitors of the center-right, who use justice as a baton.”

The Democratic Party MEP Brando Benifei thinks differently, rejoicing as he left the chamber where they voted behind closed doors: “Ilaria Salis is free: she will not be taken back to prison in Hungary; she will not suffer the injustice of the Orban government. By defending her immunity today, the European Parliament has defended the rule of law in Europe, for all citizens.”

 Salis, in an interview with Corriere della Sera published today, denied that she wants to escape the trial where she is accused of assaulting neo-Nazi militants in Budapest. “I want to be tried. But not in Hungary, where it would be a political trial, where the sentence is already written. I want to be tried in my country. In Italy. I have confidence in the judiciary. I trust the Italian judiciary,” she said.