Italian authorities arrested two men of Egyptian nationality on Thursday on suspicion of robbing the 19-year-old son of Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing League party and Italian deputy prime minister.
The two men, aged 21 and 26, are accused of stealing Federico Salvini’s cellphone during an altercation in Via Jacopo Palma in Milan on Dec. 23, during which they also threatened the Italian politician’s son with a broken bottle.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the victim was taken by the collar, forced to sit on the floor and keep silent, threatened with a broken bottle to hand over the cell phone and reveal the access code, and robbed of €200 in cash.
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The cellphone was recovered shortly after the incident after a tip-off from someone who had been offered to purchase the phone.
The arrests were made after reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
“It happened to him as, unfortunately, it happens to many in Milan,” said Matteo Salvini immediately after the incident. “Luckily nobody was hurt,” he added.
Salvini is the current Italian deputy prime minister and also serves as the transport and infrastructure minister. He has previously served as interior minister in which he pushed for radical immigration reform to crack down on illegal immigration and high levels of migrant crime, particularly in Italy’s major cities.
