Guilio Regeni Murder: Egypt's security officers on trial in Italy over student's murder

A court case of four Egyptian security service employees who were suspected of murdering an Italian student researcher, Giulio Regeni, is about to begin in Rome from Thursday onwards. The case is about to be on trial after five and a half years when the mutilated body of Regeni was discovered in a ditch near a Cairo Road in the year 2016. Regeni's parents will attend the court case in Rome, hoping to learn more about the circumstances surrounding his death. 

As per the Guardian, General Tariq Saber, Colonel Aser Ibrahim, Captain Hesham Helmi, and Major Magdi Abd al-Sharif are accused of the "aggravated kidnapping" of Regeni, whereas Sharif is also convicted for plotting to execute the murder. In Italy, kidnapping may result in a term of up to eight years in prison, but Sharif might face life imprisonment.   

Egypt's security forces go on trial for Italian student's murder

As Egypt has refused to accept the court case in Rome and by the end of last year terminated its own investigation into the Regeni murder stating ‘insufficient evidence', so, the four alleged perpetrators will stand in prosecution in absentia. Furthermore, Egyptian officials had tried to put obstacles in the Italian investigation by fabricating bizarre accounts about the murder, including a failed drug transaction, a robbery, as well as a gay passion crime. Egyptian court officials and interior ministries have also failed to provide information about the four men's addresses, preventing Italy from formally notifying the accused that they are on trial, the Guardian reported.  

However, Italian authorities had claimed that the murder of Regeni was carried out by Egypt's National Security Service (NSA). the authorities further claimed that Regeni was under observation for several weeks before his death, and was identified as a spy by a Cairo Street trade unionist. According to Rome prosecutors, Regeni was stomped, punched, slashed, scorched with red-hot items, and battered with sticks before dying.  

The Regeni murder incident has strained relations between Italy and Egypt, an alliance which needed in order to fight against immigrant smuggling and terrorism in the Mediterranean. Regeni's body was discovered several days after he vanished in January 2016.   

Regeni Murder: His mother struggled to identify his disfigured body

Giulio Regeni was last spotted at a Cairo metro station, where he was conducting research for his PhD thesis at Cambridge University on union activity among street sellers. His mother subsequently stated that his body had been disfigured to the point where she could only identify his son from the tip of his nose. According to campaigners and rights groups, the torture marks looked similar to those left by rampant abuse in Egyptian institutions.  

 (Image: AP)