An Italian activist elected to the European Parliament has been released in Hungary and will return home soon

ROME (AP) – One Italian anti-fascist activist was released from house arrest in Hungary on Friday after being elected as a new member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green and Left Alliance, party leaders said.

Local Budapest police removed Ilaria Salis’ electronic bracelet in the Hungarian capital and her father said he will take her back to Italy on Monday, when she celebrates her 40th birthday, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Salis was elected to the European Parliament while under house arrest in Hungary, where she is on trial and faces charges of allegedly attacking far-right protesters. European Parliament legislators enjoy substantial legal immunity from prosecution, even if the allegations concern crimes committed before their election.

More than 170,000 voters in Italy wrote Salis’ name on the ballot in an attempt to bring her back from Hungary, where she has been detained for more than a year.

“Finally! We are happy with the news coming from Budapest, MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and will be able to carry out her new role that hundreds of thousands of voters indicated to her”, said AVS legislators, Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni, in a statement. .

Salis became a controversial political issue in Italy after images emerged of her handcuffed and handcuffed in a Hungarian court where she was tried.

The Italian activist was charged in Hungary with attempted murder after being part of a group of anti-fascists accused of attacking individuals they believed were linked to the far-right Day of Honor last year.

The event, held annually on February 11, sees far-right activists marking the failed attempt by Nazi and Allied Hungarian soldiers to escape Budapest during the Red Army siege in 1945.

The alleged victims of the attack did not complain to the police.

Ahead of European Parliament elections earlier this month, Salis’ father repeatedly expressed concerns about his daughter’s trial, saying she could face up to 24 years in prison. The Hungarian prosecutor asked for an 11-year prison sentence.