Matteo Renzi and President Al Sisi in Egypt

  • Regeni case, al-Sisi spokesperson: collaboration in the investigation has already been ordered

  • Regeni case, the prosecutor of Rome towards the closure of the investigations

  • #whereisgiulio, twitter is mobilized for Giulio Regeni, the student who disappeared in Cairo

  • Farnesina: possible tragic epilogue for Giulio Regeni

  • Death Giulio Regeni, Egypt prosecutor: "Tortured".

    Interior Ministry denies: "An accident"

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November 24, 2020 The senator of Italia Viva, Matteo Renzi, was heard by the Regeni Commission as prime minister at the time of the kidnapping and killing of Giulio Regeni in Egypt. Renzi's intervention touched on various and important aspects of the case that is still pending.



"We have fielded everything we could"


"I must strongly reclaim what the Government has done. I do it with extreme conviction because it was a response from Italy and not an individual to an unacceptable fact. We deployed all the tools as soon as we heard the news ”.



"No to the truth of convenience"


“As soon as we were informed of the disappearance of Giulio Regeni, we immediately reported the matter to the highest Egyptian levels. When the body was found, we explained very clearly to al-Sisi that we would not accept convenient truths ”. "From January 31, 2016, as soon as we heard about the affair and understood that it risked being dramatic and serious, we leaders of the government have set in motion". 



"If we had known before"


"What if I have any regrets? I want to be honest, yes. Many times I have thought that maybe if we had known before we could have acted sooner. But what is certain is that from the moment we learned of the event there was a team reaction from the whole government ”.



"We asked for judicial cooperation"


“The first thing we said to Egypt was that our magistrates had to be able to investigate, we asked for judicial cooperation. It was not taken for granted. An extraordinary job that demonstrates that Italy does not discount anyone ”.



"I asked Al Sisi to be interviewed"


“I personally asked President al-Sisi to agree to answer questions from an Italian media. The choice fell on Repubblica, which had shown itself very interested in the battle for the truth about Giulio Regeni's death. We demanded that the president himself answer ”.



"I communicated pain and concern to Al Sisi"


"During an informal meeting with Egyptian President al-Sisi in September 2016 in Anjou, during the G20, I told him that I was saddened by what had happened to Giulio Regeni and I communicated my concerns to him and my requests ".



"From the United Kingdom little clarity"


“During the meeting with the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, I went flat with her because in my opinion on this story a friendly country like the United Kingdom has not fully clarified. I'll just say this. There is something wrong with the English university professor who does not answer questions about Giulio Regeni's death. I find it unacceptable ”.



"I would not withdraw the ambassador for the second time"


"Withdrawing the ambassador now does not mean embarrassing the ambassador and two Italian companies, but it would seem aimed at speaking to public opinion and not in search of the truth".



"Anyone who says that Egypt has done nothing is wrong"


"Whoever says that Egypt has done nothing to investigate the death of Giulio Regeni, does not realize what Egypt is. Probably someone thought they could get away with it pretending nothing happened, but we withdrew his ambassador, we refused truths of convenience, we brought the issue to international tables and we brought the judicial authorities to Cairo. We did what a civilized country must do ".



"Now Egypt must have the guilty judged"


"This level of collaboration must continue and above all Egypt must have the guilty judged. The truth must come out." "Maybe someone in Egypt was trying to get away with pretending nothing happened, we did what a civilized country has to do: bring journalists, institutions and magistrates." "The Rome prosecutor's office is in a position to go and finish their work". 



"We need undersecretary of services and special envoy to Egypt"


"I do not in the least question the choice that the Chamber made to set up the commission of inquiry, which as such respect. I think that at this stage what the country would need, the I said to Professor Conte and Gentiloni, he is a delegated authority. I think that the law for the reform of the Services which provides for the possibility and not the necessity must be interpreted in the choice of appointing an undersecretary with this delegation. In this case, I believe that what is needed in Egypt is not the withdrawal of diplomacy, but the sending of a special envoy appointed by the Prime Minister to help in the search for those responsible ".



"We need style"


"The path of dialogue with Egypt must be pursued, with the conditions of a liberal democracy, and must be done in a coordinated way. If the Foreign Minister goes, he goes, not as with the first Conte government with whom before the foreign minister went, then the president of the chamber, then the prime minister ". "It goes with style, a serious country manages this dynamic knowing that we are on a very complicated page".