Italy sends Egypt international request

(ANSA) - Rome, April 14 - Rome prosecutors on Thursday sent via diplomatic avenues an international request for judicial cooperation on the Giulio Regeni case to Egypt. The request asks Egyptian authorities to hand over all relevant material in the probe into the Cairo torture and murder of the 28-year-old Cambridge doctoral researcher, especially long-sought phone records. The request, drafted by Prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco, contains three separate requests relating to witness testimony, the telephone records of 13 Egyptian citizens and handing over some cellphone data, judicial sources said.
    The testimony relates to Regeni's disappearance on January 25, the heavily police fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former strongman Hosni Mubarak and the discovery of his body eight days later.
    Regeni's mutilated body was found in a ditch on the road to Alexandria on February 3.
    Among the 13 people whose phone records are sought are the five members of the alleged kidnapping gang at one stage said to be responsible for the murder.
    The final request is for cellphone data in the area where Regeni went missing and around the ditch his body was dumped in.
    The request, sent by the justice ministry via the foreign ministry to Italy's consulate in Cairo, will be evaluated by Egyptian Prosecutor General Ahmed Nabil Sadeq. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday denied Egyptian security forces were behind Regeni's murder, accusing the national and international media of peddling lies about the killing, which he attributed to unspecified "evil people" who allegedly wanted to hurt bilateral ties.