Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Italian parliament speaker Roberto Fico discussed on Monday the Italian university student Giulio Regeni’s murder case, Egypt’s presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.
The Egyptian president stressed Egypt’s keenness to uncover the truth and the Egyptian authorities’ commitment to maintaining full transparency with Italy. He also stressed cooperation between Egypt’s Public Prosecution and Italy’s, as well as his directives to overcome any obstacles to ongoing investigations and settle the case at last.
The two parties discussed illegal immigration, the crisis in both Libya and Syria, as well as cooperation in combating terrorism.
Sisi added that Egypt has taken legislative, economic, border security and coast control measures to stop the flow of illegal migration across Egypt since 2016.
Roberto Fico expressed his happiness in visiting Egypt and meeting President Sisi, noting his country’s appreciation of the President’s remarks regarding Regeni’s case and Egypt’s strong will to reach the truth.
Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian University of Cambridge PhD student, was conducting field research in Cairo regarding independent trade unions in Egypt when disappeared January 24, 2016 in central Cairo, amid a high presence of police in the area anticipating protests.
His mutilated body, bearing signs of torture, was discovered on a desert roadside on February 6 2016.
Initially, Egyptian police officials suggested Regeni died in a road accident. However, an Italian autopsy showed that Regeni’s body was covered with cuts, and his bones were broken, indicating that he had been beaten with “fists, batons and hammers.”
Egypt has emphatically denied that its police were involved in his abduction, torture, or death.
The Regeni case has strained ties between Egypt and Italy, which recalled its ambassador over the case. Relations were restored in August 2017 when Rome said it would return its ambassador to Cairo and continue to search for Regeni’s killers.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
