Egypt's general prosecution said on Wednesday that a document sent anonymously to the Italian Embassy in Switzerland – which stated that Italian student Giulio Regeni, who was found murdered in February 2016 in Cairo, had been arrested shortly before he disappeared – was entirely forged.

The prosecution said that the forged document purported to be a communiqué – dated 30 January 2016 – from Egyptian General Intelligence informing Military Intelligence of Regeni's arrest.

The document was examined by the Egyptian prosecution upon the request of Italian prosecutors on 22 January 2018, and was found to be a forgery, according to a statement by the Egyptian prosecution.

"In light of the fruitful cooperation between Egyptian and Italian prosecution in the Regeni death case, the Egyptian prosecution has examined all the information, data, signatures and stamps included in the letter, and has determined they are entirely forged," the statement said. 

The prosecution said that it has informed its Italian counterpart of the result of its examination, expressing sorrow that "some Italian media outlets and social media have reported about the letter without verifying its authenticity or communicating with the Egyptian prosecution on the matter."

The prosecution called on all media outlets to maintain accuracy in reporting on any news related to the ongoing investigation into the Regeni case. 

Egyptian and Italian authorities have been cooperating in the ongoing investigation into the murder of the Italian student, who disappeared in Cairo on 25 January 2016, before he was found dead 10 days later bearing signs of torture.

Last December, Italy’s top prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone met with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Sadek in Cairo to discuss the latest developments in the investigation.

The Egyptian prosecution shared with Pignatone the latest developments in the investigation, and the two discussed the ongoing work in retrieving footage from security cameras at Cairo’s Dokki Metro station, which purportedly show Regeni shortly before his disappearance.

The Italian prosecution shared with the Egyptian side a report prepared by the Italian judicial police based on previous documents on the case submitted by Egypt to Italy.

In December, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed in a meeting with the Italian Minister of Interior Marco Minniti in Cairo Egypt's "sincere determination" to reach final conclusions in the ongoing probe into Regeni murder.