Images of detained Italian anti-fascist Illaria Salis in chains in a Budapest court last week "had a powerful impact" and jarred with "the spirit of European law", foreign minister Antonio Tajani stated on Thursday.
"The TV images of the defendant chained in court had a powerful impact," Tajani told the lower house of parliament.
"Such a spectacle does not appear to be in keeping with the spirit of European law," Tajani said.
Salis, an elementary school teacher from Monza near Milan faces trial in late May for assaulting several neo-Nazis in February last year at an event in Budapest, when she was arrested.
Salis, 39, denied the charges against her. If convicted, she could be jailed for up to 24 years, according to her lawyer.
Tajani last week asked for a press blackout on the case to improve the goverment's chances of being able to help Salis. Tajani has asked his Hungarian counterpart for "an alternative to prison custody" for Salis, who claims she is being held in harsh, insanitary conditions.
Hungary denies mistreating Salis amid a diplomatic rift over the case after the Italian government last week protested her "degrading and humiliating treament" and requested that her rights be upheld.
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