“Fumus persecutionis,” like the late PSI secretary Bettino Craxi. Avs MEP Ilaria Salis has retained her parliamentary immunity, avoiding being returned to prison in Hungary, where she was taken to court in handcuffs, ankle chains, and on a leash, for the same reason that prompted the Chamber of Deputies, on April 29, 1993, to reject four of the six authorizations to proceed submitted by the Prosecutor’s Office. Milano against the leader of the Italian Socialist Party for various alleged crimes, such as corruption and receiving stolen goods.
The reasoning that prompted the Strasbourg Chamber to ‘save’ the MEP, by just one vote, is contained in the European Parliament’s decision of 7 October 2025, published today and consulted by Adnkronos.
The Parliament states that “it would appear (…), in this case, that one can presuppose the existence of fumus persecutionis, that is to say ‘concrete elements’ from which it can be deduced that the intent underlying the judicial proceedings in question is to cause harm to the political activity of Ilaria Salis in her capacity as a Member of the European Parliament”.
The Parliament acknowledges that “the alleged crimes and the subsequent request for waiver of immunity do not relate to the opinions or votes expressed by Ilaria Salis in the exercise of her duties as a Member of the European Parliament,” one of the main arguments of those seeking to waive her immunity. It also recalls that “parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege of a Member, but a guarantee of the independence of the European Parliament as an institution and of its Members.”
However, it also emphasizes that, “according to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Parliament enjoys ‘broad discretion in the direction it intends to give to the decision following a request for waiver of immunity, given the political nature of such a decision.’” Therefore, the Chamber is sovereign in deciding on the immunity of its members.
The European Parliament concedes that, as indicated in the request for waiver of immunity sent by the Budapest Capital Regional Court, Ilaria Salis traveled to Hungary to participate in the coordinated attacks against far-right activists who had gathered in the Hungarian capital to celebrate the so-called Day of Honour, “and took part in them on 10 and 11 February 2023”.
The Parliament emphasizes, however, that “clashes and incidents of violence committed by people celebrating the so-called Day of Honor have been reported.” However, it notes, “the Budapest Capital Regional Court stated that it was not aware of any acts of violence committed by any participants in the 2023 commemoration of the so-called Day of Honor that would have led to the adoption of measures against them, with the exception of Ilaria Salis and two other defendants in the case.”
In other words, according to Hungarian judicial authorities, only Salis and two other far-left activists committed violence in those days in February 2023, while the many far-right activists did nothing, which contradicts the reports reported in those days.
Therefore, “in the exercise of this broad discretionary power, Parliament has found, in the present case, that Ilaria Salis was subjected to harsh detention conditions and measures during the criminal proceedings against her.”
The Court also notes that, “apparently, the Budapest-Capital Regional Court is not aware of any acts of violence committed by any other participants, particularly those attending the commemoration of the so-called Day of Honour 2023, which would have led to the adoption of measures against them.”
The Chamber notes that, “there appear to be doubts that could not be dispelled regarding the information received; that the underlying purpose of the proceedings and the resulting request therefore appears to be to silence Ilaria Salis because of her political views and long-standing activism, particularly in opposing the neo-Nazi commemoration authorized each year in Budapest, elements that also underpin her political commitment and activity as a Member of the European Parliament.”
And so, considering all these factors, the European Parliament “decides not to lift Ilaria Salis’s immunity.” (by Tommaso Gallavotti)
(Adnkronos)
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