Italian delegation arrives in Cairo to follow up on Regeni's case - airport sources

Saturday 07-05-2016 07:18 PM

Italian student Giulio Regeni's belongings allegedly found in a gang member's house - Photo from the Interior ministry

CAIRO, May 7 (Aswat Masriya) - An Italian delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to follow up on the investigation into the case of slain Italian student Giulio Regeni, sources in Cairo International Airport said.

The 28-year-old Italian researcher Regeni, who was in Egypt to conduct research into the labour movement, went missing in Cairo on Jan. 25, 2016, which marked the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Around ten days later, his body was found, bearing signs of torture, in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo.

Regeni's death has sparked anger locally and internationally with Italy pressuring Egypt to disclose the circumstances around his death, threatening that otherwise it will consider taking measures against the Middle Eastern country. 

The incident has put Egypt's internal policies under scrutiny as international media outlets accused Egypt's interior ministry of being behind the torture and killing of Regeni, which Egypt has denied.

Egypt’s cooperation over the killing of Regeni has also been scrutinised by Italian media.

In April, Italian investigators requested phone records of Egyptians residing in areas where Regeni resided, disappeared and was  found dead.

But Egypt said it refused to provide this information on the grounds that this would contradict articles in the Egyptian constitution governing the right to privacy and confidentiality in means of communications.

Citing a legal source, Reuters reported on Friday that Egypt has handed over the records of five people, including Mohammed Abdullah, the head of the street vendors union, to Italian investigators who are looking into Regeni’s case.

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