Lucrezia Ciotti Ten years after the death of Giulio Regeni , the Rome Assize Court has issued its ruling in the proceedings concerning the case of the Italian researcher killed in Cairo in 2016. The judges have ruled on the four Egyptian secret service agents charged with the kidnapping, torture, and murder of the young man.
The investigations and alleged cover-ups into the death of Giulio Regeni
The proceedings concluded after years of investigations and difficult relations between Italian and Egyptian authorities. According to the Rome Prosecutor's Office, the cooperation promised by Cairo did not yield sufficient evidence, and several items requested by Italian investigators were never provided. These include telephone traffic data , National Security documentation, service records, and information on Regeni's monitoring.
One of the most controversial aspects of the investigation also concerns the alleged criminal gang that, according to the initial version provided by Egyptian authorities, was responsible for the kidnapping and murder. This reconstruction was subsequently questioned by Italian investigators. Over the years, the investigation has instead focused on members of the Egyptian security apparatus , leading to the registration of several officials in the register of suspects in December 2018.
The legal proceedings thus continued despite the difficulties related to the absence of the defendants and judicial cooperation between the two countries.
Giulio Regeni's death: the judges' verdict: three 10-year sentences
As reported by Ansa , the Rome Assize Court has sentenced four Egyptian intelligence agents accused of kidnapping, torturing, and killing Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016. Three defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison , while the fourth was acquitted . This judicial decision came after a trial marked by a lengthy search for evidence useful in reconstructing what happened to the young researcher from Friuli.
According to Tgcom24 , the ten-year sentences appear to have been handed down to Colonels Uhsam Helmi and Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim and Major Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif, for whom the Prosecutor's Office had requested a life sentence. General Tariq Sabir, however, appears to have been acquitted. Giulio's parents, Paola Deffendi and Claudio Regeni, attended the verdict in court, along with his sister Irene and lawyer Alessandra Ballerini.