Images of Ilaria Salis in handcuffs and on a leash in front of a Hungarian judge prompted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, to call the Republic of Hungary's Chargé d'Affaires this morning. But the opposition believes the government has waited too long. The friendship between Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is at the heart of the dispute. Salis was detained on February 11 for allegedly assaulting a gathering of neo-Nazis. She is facing up to 24 years in prison. In November, she complained in a letter about the circumstances of incarceration in the Hungarian prison: detainees on leashes, cockroaches, mice, and bedbugs in the cells, starvation, just one hour of air per day, and the requirement to look at the wall during hallway stops.
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