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Italy ponders strict measures against Egypt over death of Regeni

Published

8 years ago

April 5, 2016

Italy ponders strict measures against Egypt over death of Regeni

Italy officials are considering taking “immediate and proportionate” actions against Egypt if it fails to comply in revealing the truth behind the killing of Giulio Regeni an Italian PhD student who was killed in the outskirts of Cairo on the 3^rd of February.

Regeni reportedly vanished suddenly form the busy streets of Cairo on the 25^th of January and his lifeless body was found nine days later in a ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital showing signs of extensive torture.

“If there is not a change in tack (by the Egyptian authorities), the government is ready to react, adopting measures that are both immediate and proportionate,” Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told parliament.

The head of parliament’s human rights committee, Luigi Manconi, said last month that the government should recall Italy’s ambassador to Cairo and declare Egypt unsafe for visitors if the Egyptian investigation went nowhere.

The murder Regeni who has obviously ruined the once friendly relationship between Egypt and Italy with the North African country denying recent claims that the Regeni was arrested and tortured by police before his death.

Egypt’s Interior minister rejected the claims making the rounds that security forces had a hand in Regeni’s death after his body was found bearing obvious signs of torture on the 3rd of February in Cairo.

When asked by a reporter on Monday if Regeni had been arrested by the police, Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt’s interior minister, said “This did not happen”.

“It is completely unacceptable that such accusations be directed at the Egyptian police.

“This is not Egyptian security policy – Egyptian security has never been accused of such a matter.” He said.

In recent times, several policemen in Egypt have been tried for torture-related death with critics hitting at Egypt’s interior ministry and several policemen of using excessive force.

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