ROME: As Italy prepared to bury Giulio Regeni on Friday, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned Egypt its friendship was on the line over the probe into the student’s unexplained death in Cairo.
Renzi said Egypt was cooperating with Rome’s demand that Italian investigators be involved in the investigation into the death of the 28-year-old whose torture-scarred body was discovered dumped in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3.
“For the moment, all our requests have been met and above all we have demanded that every element should be put on the table in order that the truth can be established and those really responsible can be detained,” Renzi told Radio Anch’io.
“This has been a tragic event,” he added.
“I extend my condolences to Giulio’s family and I say that we have told the Egyptians: friendship is a precious asset but it is only possible on the basis of truth.”
Regeni, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, disappeared on Jan. 25. Many Italians believe he was abducted and killed by elements of the Egyptian security services, an allegation the authorities in Cairo have rejected as baseless.
The Italian team in Cairo have questioned an Egyptian who has testified that he saw a foreigner being bundled into a police van close to Regeni’s house around the time he disappeared on Jan. 25.
Regeni’s slaying while he was in Cairo doing research for his doctoral thesis has become a cause celebre among academics around the world and has turned the spotlight on what rights and opposition groups say are increasing abuses by security services.
Renzi said Egypt was cooperating with Rome’s demand that Italian investigators be involved in the investigation into the death of the 28-year-old whose torture-scarred body was discovered dumped in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3.
“For the moment, all our requests have been met and above all we have demanded that every element should be put on the table in order that the truth can be established and those really responsible can be detained,” Renzi told Radio Anch’io.
“This has been a tragic event,” he added.
“I extend my condolences to Giulio’s family and I say that we have told the Egyptians: friendship is a precious asset but it is only possible on the basis of truth.”
Regeni, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, disappeared on Jan. 25. Many Italians believe he was abducted and killed by elements of the Egyptian security services, an allegation the authorities in Cairo have rejected as baseless.
The Italian team in Cairo have questioned an Egyptian who has testified that he saw a foreigner being bundled into a police van close to Regeni’s house around the time he disappeared on Jan. 25.
Regeni’s slaying while he was in Cairo doing research for his doctoral thesis has become a cause celebre among academics around the world and has turned the spotlight on what rights and opposition groups say are increasing abuses by security services.
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