Egyptian prosecutor heads to Rome to discuss Regeni investigation

Thursday 08-09-2016 03:21 PM

Amnesty holds flash mob demo in protest at Egypt disappearances. Reuters

By Reuters

CAIRO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor left for Rome on Thursday to present his Italian counterpart with the latest findings in the investigation into the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni, state news agency MENA said.

Regeni, who was doing postgraduate research into Egyptian trade unions, was last seen by his friends on Jan. 25. His body, which showed signs of torture, was found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3.

The prosecutors' meeting will be the third since Regeni's body was found. MENA did not give any details on what the latest findings were.

Egyptian judicial sources said there had been no new breakthrough in the probe. Egyptian prosecutor Nabil Ahmed Sadek was responding to an invitation from his Italian counterpart to discuss the latest developments in the case, they said.

Italy has repeatedly complained that Egyptian authorities have not cooperated to find those responsible for the 28-year-old student's death. In April, it withdrew its ambassador to Egypt for consultations.

The Italian Senate voted in June to halt supplies to Egypt of spare parts for F16 warplanes in protest against what some senators said was the slow pace of investigations.

Italy was Egypt's fourth-largest trade partner in terms of imports and exports in 2015, according to Egypt's statistics agency, CAPMAS. The Senate vote was Italy's first commercial step against Cairo over the Regeni case.

Human rights groups have said torture marks indicated Regeni died at the hands of the security forces, an allegation Cairo denies.

Three Egyptian intelligence officials and three police sources told Reuters that Regeni was detained by police and transferred to a compound run by Homeland Security on the day his friends say he disappeared. The Interior Ministry and Homeland Security denied this, saying Regeni was not held by police or Homeland Security.

 

 

(Reporting by Mohamed el Sherif; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Lin Noueihed and Dominic Evans)

facebook comments