(ANSA) - Fiumicello, February 12 - All one thousand seats
were filled at the funeral ceremony on Friday for Giulio Regeni,
the Italian doctoral research student who was brutally murdered
in Egypt.
The ceremony took place in a gymnasium in Regeni's hometown
of Fiumicello, about 35 kilometres northwest of Trieste in the
northern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where flags in the
region's public offices flew at half-mast and the region's
website displayed a black mourning ribbon.
Businesses and public offices in Fiumicello were closed on
Friday for a citywide day of mourning, with only coffee bars and
restaurants open specifically to service the large number of
mourners and press in town to cover the funeral.
About one thousand additional mourners gathered outside of
the gymnasium to pay their respects.
Among the dignitaries present were Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Governor Debora Serracchiani and Chairman of the Italian Senate
Foreign Affairs Committee Pier Ferdinando Casini.
Flowers were sent by the Italian Embassy and the University
of Cambridge, where the 28-year-old Regeni was conducting his
PhD research in the Department of Politics and International
Studies.
The funeral ceremony was conducted partially in English to
accommodate Regeni's foreign friends who don't speak Italian.
Regeni's casket was covered with white flowers and carried
into the gymnasium followed by family and close friends.
Thousands mourn for Italian student
Town of Fiumicello closed for day, flags at half mast