Italian Deputy Erasmo Palazzo, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee that is Investigating the Killing of Italian Student Giulio Regeni in Egypt, called on Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to clarify the reasons for the big arms deal with Egypt, while the parents of the dead student said that the Italian government betrayed them.
The Lastamba newspaper quoted MP Palazzo as saying that the Italian government had broken promises it made to the Regeni family, who had been found dead in Egypt about four and a half years ago, and Rome had repeatedly pledged to his parents to work to uncover the truth and bring the perpetrators to trial.
Regeni, 28, is an Italian student and researcher who disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, 2016, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the January Revolution, before his body was found with traces of torture on February 3 of the same year.
In an attempt by the Egyptian authorities to wash her hand from the accusations of his murder, the Ministry of Interior presented on 25 March 2016 a novel that later proved false, claiming that it had killed a gang of 5 people in a shootout in a Cairo suburb, and found in their possession Regini belongings.
Since that date, diplomatic relations between Egypt and Italy have been strained, and the Italian and international newspapers and media have received the issue of Regini's death, and civil society organizations and human rights organizations have adopted it with the aim of pressuring the Egyptian authorities to uncover the cause of the case.
In light of this, the newspaper criticized the large arms deal, under which Italy would sell to Egypt two frigates, four naval ships, 20 boats, 24 combat aircraft and 24 training aircraft for billions of dollars, and said, "This is the largest deal of its kind since the end of World War II, making Egypt the largest customer of systems Italian armament. "
Palazzotto also called on Conte Prime Minister to clarify relations with the regime of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, with whom he made a phone call two days ago, and the military deal between the two countries was the most important topic.
The newspaper added that the Regini killing case has become a standard for judging many things, including democratic values, the balance between soft power and hard power, and Italy's position in the Mediterranean.
The shame deal
Amnesty International's spokesperson in Italy Ricardo Nuri praised the Italian MPs' initiative to hold the government accountable on the Regeni case, and described the military deal between Egypt and Italy as not "a century order" but "a shame of the century".
The newspaper asked about the justifications for Italy's dealings with Egypt, which ranked 166 out of 180 in the "Reporters Without Borders" rankings on freedom of the press, and is considered a large prison square for opponents.
The newspaper pointed to the case of Patrick Zaki - an Egyptian student at the Italian University of Bologna - who has been in prison for four months, while the authorities have released a number of criminals because of the Corona virus.
On the other hand, the newspaper La Repubblica quoted Paola and Claudio Regeni - the parents of the student, Giulio Regeni - as saying that their government had betrayed them when they decided to conclude a major arms deal with Egypt, and said that these weapons would be a tool in the hands of the Egyptian authorities to violate human rights.
"We feel betrayed, and also insulted and outraged by the government 's use of the regency file, every time a trade agreement is concluded with Egypt and he described the Sisi government as a friend," he said. "This is tantamount to shooting Regeni's name as if they want to get rid of his case."
The newspaper described the military deal as very sensitive, because it is new evidence of the strong political and commercial relationship between Rome and Cairo, although the latter has not been cooperating in the past years in order to reveal the parties involved in the killing of student Regeni.
A few days ago, La Repubblica quoted a source in the Italian prime minister as saying that the deal, which is estimated at about $ 9 billion, is considered to be the "mission of the century", as it represents political, commercial and industrial values.