Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, has sounded defiant ahead of Friday’s court verdict in Sicily for blocking some 100 migrants at sea on a humanitarian rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister.

The deputy prime minister and the leader of the far-right League party claimed he was a victim in the fight against illegal immigration that has swept across Europe.

A verdict is expected on Friday in the trial of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who is accused of kidnap and dereliction of duty over his refusal to let a migrant rescue boat dock in Italy in 2019.