Italian police carried out a “preventive check” on Saturday morning on far-left MEP Ilaria Salis at her hotel in Rome ahead of a politically charged protest at the weekend, following a request broadcast by an unnamed European country.
“This morning, the police appeared at dawn in my hotel room in Rome for a preventive check that lasted more than an hour before today’s demonstration,” Salis. has written in X.
She later described the incident as an act of intimidation Euractiv.
“Threatening a member of the European Parliament, on the morning of a national demonstration – despite the protection of parliamentary immunity – constitutes a serious violation of fundamental rights and institutional guarantees,” she said.
In October, the European Parliament rejected a request by Hungarian prosecutors to waive her parliamentary immunity after she was accused of attacking far-right demonstrators in Budapest in 2023, which she said was politically motivated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.
Roman authorities are on high alert this weekend ahead of a protest organized by the “No Kings Italia movement” after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government lost a recent high stakes. referendum for the reform in justice.
However, Salis said she did not know which country had ordered the search and that her room was not searched.
Rome police said Euractiv that the controls were not initiated by the Italian authorities. Rome’s police commissioner said the action was a routine procedure triggered by a report from another European country, leaving Italian authorities with no leeway to refuse.
“Once the officers realized that she was a member of the European Parliament, all searches were terminated without entering the hotel room; therefore, no search or other action was taken,” a statement shared with Euractiv said from Rome police headquarters.
Rome police declined to say which country made the request.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that the check on the MEP came from an alert issued by Germany through the Schengen Information System.
Parliament prepares for a clash over the immunity of the far-left MEP Ilaria Salis
A committee of the European Parliament is expected to recommend the removal of the immunity of MEP Ilaria Salis…
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“This is a very serious matter, as respect for parliamentary prerogatives is essential to ensure that members can carry out their duties freely,” Pina Picierno, a Socialist lawmaker and vice-president of the European Parliament. said.
The office of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, declined to comment.
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