Italian politicians called for the
government to give an Egyptian Bologna university researcher
Italian citizenship as he marked his 30th birthday in detention
in Cairo on sedition charges Wednesday.
"Today Patrick Zaki turns 30. In a cell. We ask the government
to apply the unanimous indication of parliament and give him
citizenship," said Enrico Letta, a former premier and leader of
the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
The PD's Emilia-Romagna governor, Stefano Bonaccini, said "today
Patrick Zaki marks his birthday and for the second time will
'celebrate' it in prison. All this is unacceptable and we will
continue to strongly call for his release and the conferral of
Italian citizenship.
"We want Patrick to come back and study here in Bologna".
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova told
Rainews24 recently that the government will shortly start
to "verify the conditions for the granting of Italian
citizenship" to Zaki.
Zaki is an Egyptian Bologna University postgraduate student who
has been held in Egypt since February 7 last year on charges of
"disseminating false news" and "incitement to protest".
The Senate has approved a motion calling on the government to
grant him Italian citizenship.
Della Vedova likened Zaki's case to the "tragic affair" of
28-year-old Italian student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured to
death in Cairo in early 2016.
"The parliamentary motion gives a commitment to the government,
which came out in favour of the motion itself," he said.
Zaki, a 29-year-old Coptic Christian, is pursuing an Erasmus
Mundus Master's Degree in Women and Gender Studies at the
University of Bologna.
He also conducts research and advocacy on gender issues and
human rights for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
(EIPR), a human rights organization based in Cairo.
Petitions for his release have been rejected on countless
occasion.
Zaki was arrested on arriving at Cairo International Airport
when he returned home from Bologna for a short family visit.
The Egyptian National Security Agency reportedly arrested Zaki,
interrogated him about his time in Italy and his human rights
work, and took him to an undisclosed location.
During interrogation, he was allegedly frequently threatened,
beaten on his stomach and back and tortured with electric
shocks.
The European Parliament, Amnesty International and Scholars At
Risk have been among the bodies calling for his release, along
with the Italian government.
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