The parents of Giulio Regeni,
the Italian student tortured and murdered in Egypt last year, on
Wednesday met with Rome prosecutors probing their son's death.
The meeting focused on documents recently sent by Egyptian
prosecutors, which did not contain any clinching evidence on who
tortured and killed the 28-year-old Cambridge doctoral research
student, sources said.
Earlier Wednesday Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini received
ambassador Giampaolo Cantini, whom the government last month
decided to send to Cairo on September 14 to fill a diplomatic
vacuum opened after lack of cooperation, citing progress in the
Regeni case.
The Regeni family insists there has not been any real
breakthrough such as to warrant Cantini's posting but Foreign
Minister Angelino Alfano said earlier this week that having
relations with "inextricable partner" Egypt was unavoidable.
Egypt has denied suggestions its security forces, frequently
accused of brutal repression of opposition, had anything to do
with the death of Regeni, who was researching Cairo street
seller unions.
Briefing parliament on the case this week, Alfano said the
case was "a serious injury for our conscience, for all of us and
for the whole country".
He admitted that "the day the body of Giulio Regeni was
found, bilateral relations suffered a big blow".
Alfano also told parliament that the search for the truth
about the murder will include "the British institution for which
Giulio was conducting his research" - Cambridge University.
He said Cantini "will have a relationship of cooperation with
his British colleague in the Egyptian capital" over the Regeni
case when he takes up the role.
Alfano said the decision to send Cantini to Cairo does not
mean Rome has given up its quest to get to the bottom of the
affair.
He added that the government had already explained its
position regarding a New York Times report that the US gave
"explosive" evidence that Egypt's secret services tortured and
murdered Regeni to the former government of Matteo Renzi.
In its report, the NYT said the administration of former
United States president Barack Obama gave the Renzi government
proof last year that graduate student Regeni was abducted,
tortured and killed by Egypt's security services, who had been
surveilling him for some time because of his research into
street vendor trade unions.
The office of Premier Paolo Gentiloni denied the report.
The Obama administration gave no "explosive evidence" or real
actionable information to the Renzi government that Regeni was
tortured and murdered by the Egyptian secret services,
Gentiloni's office said.
Regeni, disappeared on January 25, 2016, the heavily policed
fifth anniversary of the popular ousting of former strongman
Hosni Mubarak.
His mutilated body was found in a ditch on the road to
Alexandria nine days later.
Egypt gave several explanations for his death including a car
accident, a gay lovers' tiff turned ugly and murder by an
alleged kidnapping gang, later wiped out by police - all of them
rejected by Italy.
But last month Cairo supplied allegedly key fresh testimony
by the police who probed Regeni before and after his death,
prompting Rome to send Cantini to Cairo.
Regeni's family has said it was "indignant" at the posting of
the ambassador.
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