The family of Giulio Regeni, an
Italian student tortured to death in mysterious circumstances in
Cairo, on Tuesday denied media reports he was a spy.
Meanwhile, as Italian academics echoed their British
counterparts with an open letter to the Italian government
urging a search for the truth, Egyptian investigators questioned
two neighbours of the murdered researcher.
Egypt stressed that Italian investigators were actively
taking part in "all phases" of the investigation into the death
of Regeni, who was found in a ditch February 3 after
disappearing January 25, the fifth anniversary of the uprising
that toppled former longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak.
Cambridge University, where Regeni was a PhD student,
meanwhile said he had taken all possible measures to protect his
safety and had been using standard research methods.
Regeni's family, speaking through a lawyer, said it
"denies categorically and unequivocally that Giulio was an agent
or collaborator of any secret service, Italian or foreign.
"To try to push the theory that Giulio Regeni was a man at
the service of intelligence means offending the memory of a
young university student who had made field research a
legitimate ambition of study and life."
Italian media have speculated that Regeni may have been
working for the Italian foreign intelligence service AISE.
Egyptian police investigating Regeni's torture and death
on Tuesday questioned two former neighbors of the victim.
Italian investigators were also present.
The two were questioned about reports that unidentified
subjects showed up at the building Regeni lived in asking
questions about him before his death.
Egypt has repeatedly denied western media reports that
Regeni was picked up on January 25 by two members of the
Egyptian security services.
Regeni was researching Egyptian labour movements for his
doctoral thesis at Cambridge and also writing for the Rome
leftwing daily il manifesto on them, under a pseudonym.
It has been suggested that his contact with activists may
have brought him to the attention of the Egyptian security
apparatus.
Italian academics on Tuesday wrote an open letter to the
Italian government to try to make sure the truth emerges about
Regeni's death.
"We ask for the truth on Giulio Regeni's death to be
established and we ask our government to intervene strongly in
defence of academic freedom and the safety of researchers," said
the letter, which echoed appeals from "all over the world".
The appeal, which follows a similar one from the UK,
started at the university of Brescia and quickly garnered almost
1,000 signatures from universities and research centres all over
Italy.
Regeni was found in a ditch on a desert road north of
Cairo with signs of torture all over his body.
Regeni, who was a visiting scholar at the American
University in Cairo, was found with signs of torture including
two clipped ears, a torn-out fingernail and toenail and cuts all
over his body including on the soles of the feet.
He had multiple fractures including reportedly a broken
nose and also reportedly signs that he had been tortured with
electrodes to his testicles.
Regeni is thought to have been killed in an apartment in
the centre of Cairo - the coup de grace being a violent blow to
the back of his neck - before his body was dumped on the desert
road from Cairo to Alexandria.
Regeni took all possible "safety measures" while
researching the Egyptian labour movement, said a spokesman at
Cambridge University where the 28-year-old was a doctoral
student.
"Giulio Regeni was a respected academic and every safety
measure was followed," the spokesman said.
"The methods used in his work were standard research
methods".
The university reiterated its condolences for Regeni's
death and "urged authorities to investigate this tragedy fully.
Our thoughts are with Giulio's family, his friends and
colleagues," the spokesman said.
There was silence, on the other hand, at the Department of
Politics and International Studies (POLIS), the institute that
Regeni worked at, where members were said to be feeling grief
and irritation.
Glen Rangwala, a lecturer in Middle Eastern issues, said
he did not want to comment after the "inaccuracies" that have
appeared in the Italian media.
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