With the start of the trial of 4 Egyptian officers in Italy ... Al Jazeera Net tells the story of investigations and conflicting accounts in the case of Regeni's murder.

"You have seen him in the photographs, a handsome young man always smiling in his face, as well as in the last photo that I took of him on the day he left for Cairo," said Paula Regeni, the mother of the Italian researcher, Giulio Regeni, told reporters in her first appearance after the return of a dead body. Her son, a few days ago, from Egypt, and the body was found on February 3, 2016, dumped on the side of the Cairo-Alexandria desert road.

Today, Thursday, in Rome, a trial in absentia begins for 4 Egyptian security officers accused by Italian authorities of kidnapping, torturing and killing Regeni more than 5 years ago.

Regeni's mother announced that she was waiting for justice for her son (European)

The beginning of the case

The story of the case in Italy began after the forensic doctor examined Regeni's body in Rome at the time, as the Italian prosecution decided to open a parallel investigation by the Egyptian authorities to investigate his death.

It was noteworthy that the Italian investigators complained from the beginning about what they described as "attempts to mislead the investigations", accusing the Egyptian investigators of pursuing them in order to waste time in order to dilute the case.

Starting with their conversation at the beginning of the investigations about a traffic accident, to move later to talk about an accident that was killed due to abnormal emotional relationships, then narrated a story about his drug use, to the story in which 5 people were killed during an armed clash with Egyptian police officers, described by the Italian investigations At the time, members of the gang responsible for killing Regeni confirmed that they had found his personal belongings in the house of the gang leader.

With the passage of time, the investigations of the Italian investigators focused specifically on the activities of a group of officers affiliated with the Egyptian National Security Agency.

The belongings of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, who was arrested in Egypt on the suspicion by the security authorities that he was a British spy, according to Italian investigations (Associated Press)

A researcher, not a spy, and

according to

a

lot of data issued by the prosecution in Rome and which received the attention of the Italian media, those investigations in which a crowd of witnesses were heard, as well as resorting to the use of very sophisticated technologies, had resulted from its early stages that Regeni was in Egypt. Based on a commission from the University of Cambridge, in the context of preparing his PhD thesis, to prepare a paper on street vendors and their unions in Cairo.

And that was what triggered - according to the Italian prosecution's statements - the security authorities ’consideration in light of sensitive security conditions at the time. In achieving this, they had to kill him in order to cover up the kidnappings and torture they committed, according to the Italian version of events.

In December 2018, the turning point in the Italian investigations was when the Rome Prosecutor's Office decided to include the names of 5 officers from the Egyptian National Security Agency in the register of suspects in the abduction, torture and killing of Regeni.

The king's witness

In May 2019, the Italian newspaper la Repubblica revealed that a witness is a senior African security agent who confirmed to Italian investigators - in an official report - that he had personally heard a conversation between one of the accused in the crime and another African officer, during which he confirmed The Egyptian officer said Regeni was killed by the Egyptian security services, because they believed that he was a British spy.

Two years after the names of 5 officers from the Egyptian National Security Agency were registered in the registry of those suspected of involvement in the crime, the prosecution in Rome announced on December 11, the closure of its investigations into the case of the researcher Giulio Regeni, confirming that it gathered conclusive and sufficient evidence to prosecute Major General Tariq Saber. , Colonel Aser Kamel Muhammad Ibrahim, Captain Hossam Helmy, and Major Majdi Ibrahim Abdel-Aal Al-Sharif.

It issued 4 notices against them for committing very serious felonies, ranging from kidnapping to torture for several days and premeditated murder, giving them 20 days to present defense statements and attend the initial hearing.

Whereas, the public prosecutors of the Rome Prosecution office requested to close the investigations against the police chief, Mahmoud Negm, as there was insufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the court.

Regeni's mother said that she got to know her son with great difficulty due to the torture he suffered before he was killed (Getty Images)

Today the trial begins, and

on January 20, and since the Italian prosecution received no response, it requested that the four accused be referred to the trial, whose first session begins today, Thursday, April 29, in the Italian capital, Rome, headed by the pre-trial judge.

The judge will look into the issue of “the failure of the Egyptian prosecution” to provide its Italian counterpart with the addresses of the accused in Egypt, as this resulted in them being unable to be formally notified of the indictment against them in accordance with the provisions of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, which in turn does not allow the trial of anyone without notifying him in advance of an official notice attached to the list. Accusation.

However, observers believe that the judge will most likely acknowledge the request to prosecute them, given the prosecution's disclosure of their names for a long time and their widespread publication in the media even in Egypt.

On this last point, the Italian strategic researcher Daniele Roventini believes that the prosecution’s request to refer the four defendants to trial indicates that the Italian investigators have sufficient evidence to support the indictment in the court, and it must be recalled of the competence and competence of the investigating judges in this case.

In response to a question by Al-Jazeera Net about the expected trial period, Roventini said, "It is not easy to predict the times because they depend on the testimonies that the witnesses will give, and on the investigations that the court may consider necessary to delve into. As for possible convictions, the Italian Criminal Code stipulates penalties. Strict about the alleged crimes, if proven. "

The Italian strategic researcher Daniele Roventini: Regeni's crime created moments of great diplomatic tension between the two countries, which are generally linked by historical and friendly relations (European)

Justice, the balance of interests

and the extent of the issue's impact on Italian-Egyptian relations and its implications for the files that are of strategic importance for the two countries, such as the Libyan file for example. The Italian expert believes that what is certain is that Regeni's crime "created moments of great diplomatic tension between the two countries, which are generally linked by relations. Historic and friendly. "

He continued, "For this reason, the Italian governments that have succeeded in the past years have always tried to maintain a strong relationship with Egypt, not only because it is a very important trading partner for them, but also because of their convictions that maintaining good relations with Egypt would allow them more room to exert strong pressure on the authorities." There in its urging to reveal the circumstances of the crime. "

On a question about the possibility that Washington under the new US President Joe Biden would provide tangible support to Rome in order to uncover the circumstances of the crime, the Italian researcher said, "I am completely convinced that the Biden administration will be very careful and that it has a strong sensitivity towards human rights issues that fall within the scope of the story. Regeni. "

"But I also believe that the American approach in its relations with Egypt, Al-Sisi, will go in parallel with its desire to consolidate relations between two countries with historical ties, such as Italy and Egypt, especially with regard to security policies and the fight against terrorism," he added.

And whether he believes that the hopes of the Regeni family and the public opinion will ultimately hit the achievement of justice or whether the balanced economic interests will have a greater impact, the Italian expert said, "I think it is indisputable that the truth of Giulio Regeni's murder will be revealed, and that the real perpetrators will pay the price of their crime."