Almost two weeks after the sexual assault on New Year's Eve in Milan, the Italian authorities announced the arrest of two suspects on Wednesday.

According to previous investigations, there were three different and apparently coordinated "violence episodes" against women by groups of men at the New Year's Eve celebrations on the popular Piazza del Duomo.

The incidents were compared in the Italian reporting with those on the Cologne Domplatte on New Year's Eve 2015.

The women in Milan were attacked, groped and robbed.

The public prosecutor's office is investigating “serious sexual violence” and collective theft of cell phones and handbags.

Matthias Rüb

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta, based in Rome.

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So far, nine women, including two 20-year-old students from Mannheim, have filed charges of sexual assault and property crimes.

Initially, the government in Rome and the city hall in Milan had not commented on the incidents at the turn of the year.

In view of the continued reporting, including in the national media, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese condemned the incidents as "very serious" on January 7th.

She expressed the hope that the investigators would “bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible”.

The Mayor of Milan Beppe Sala spoke of incidents that “are not worthy of our city”.

The politician from the Green Party Europe Verde promised to arrest "the gang that is responsible for the attacks".

Investigations against 18 young people

According to the Milan public prosecutor Riccardo Targetti, the two arrested men aged 18 and 21 from Turin and Milan are “second generation Italians”, that is, sons born in the country to immigrant families. As the authorities announced, a total of 18 adolescents and young men between the ages of 15 and 21 are being investigated. According to consistent reports in Italian media, there are ten sons of Maghreb migrant families and eight foreigners with Egyptian and Moroccan citizenship.

During house searches in Milan and Turin, the suspects' wardrobes were searched on Tuesday. Items of clothing that the alleged perpetrators are said to have worn on New Year's Eve were seized. In addition, cell phones were seized on which the alleged attackers documented their acts of violence and spread them via social media.

On a cell phone video of an eyewitness distributed by the Italian media, the two women from Germany can be seen who are desperately trying to defend themselves against the attackers while they are surrounded by the screaming young men and pushed to the barricade. The riot police standing a few meters behind the barriers did not intervene regardless of the women's calls for help. It took minutes for the two Germans to get to safety.

Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini from the right-wing national Lega called the incidents "serious, shabby and unacceptable".

Salvini's party demanded in the city parliament of Milan the resignation of the city council responsible for public order and announced a motion of no confidence because of inadequate security precautions on New Year's Eve.

Salvini's Lega and the other right-wing parties accuse the Milanese magistrate and the Interior Ministry of having hesitated to condemn the attacks.

"May the year 2022 bring fewer criminals, fewer crimes, fewer ship landings by illegal immigrants, more security and more peace of mind to the Italians," said Salvini on January 7th.