President Sisi reiterates Egypt's commitment to bringing killers of Italian student Regeni to justice

Ahram Online , Wednesday 18 Jul 2018

Sisi
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-sisi (R) meets with Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (L) in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, 18 July, 2018 (Photo: official Facebook page of El-Sisi's spokesman)

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi assured Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday that Cairo is committed to bringing to justice those responsible for the murder of an Italian PhD student in Cairo more than two years ago.

El-Sisi stressed his country's "strong will to reach final results in the investigations into the killing of the Italian student Giulio Regeni, and identify the perpetrators to achieve justice in this case," El-Sisi's spokesman Bassam Radi said in a statement.

The 28-year-old Regeni, who was doing postgraduate research into Egyptian labour movements, was found murdered in February 2016. He disappeared on 25 January 2016, the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution, and was found 10 days later in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo. Egyptian investigators have said that his body bore signs of torture.

El-Sisi added that Egypt's judiciary and concerned state authorities are keen to work together with Italian counterparts on the matter.

Salvini renewed a request by his country to shed full light on the murder, the Italian interior ministry was quoted by Italy's news agency ANSA as saying.

The ministry said the talks were "long and cordial."

Last month, Egyptian and Italian prosecutors said that footage recovered Cairo metro CCTV recordings showed no "videos or images" of Regeni, and that they have found a number "gaps" in the recovered footage. Both sides agreed that advanced technical tests should be carried out to determine why these gaps exist.

During the talks, which also involved the Egyptian interior minister, the duo discussed Egyptian-Italian cooperation and boosting mutual counterterrorism efforts.

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