Italian officials: Intransigence in Regeni investigation, deteriorating rights situation may hinder Egypt-Italy military, economic cooperation

The human rights situation in Egypt may raise questions regarding several cooperation points between Egypt and Italy, according to Italian government sources. 

The sources specifically pointed as a cause for concern to the stalled investigation into Italian researcher Guilio Regeni’s 2016 murder, the recent arrest of Egyptian Institute for Personal Rights staff and the continued detention of Parick George Zaki, who was pursuing a graduate degree at theUniversity of Bologna when he was arrested and tortured upon returning to Egypt for holiday. 

The sources made it clear that these developments may lead to a reduction in the Egyptian government’s margin to legally maneuver around the indictment of five national security officers, whom Rome prosecutors placed under official investigation last year. 

The prosecution of the five National Security Agency officers implicated in Regeni’s murder has been in the headlines in recent days in the Italian press, with La Repubblica reporting that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte informed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a phone call over the weekend that the prosecution will proceed with an indictment in the case, despite having been unable to secure from Egyptian authorities the legal residencies of the five suspects.

Under Italian law, the prosecution is obliged to notify defendants of their indictment. Within twenty days of being notified of the start of the trial, the defendants may submit a defense memorandum, the results of their own investigations, or request the public prosecutor to conduct specific investigations. The deadline for the prosecution to notify the defendants in the Regeni investigation is December 4.

La Repubblica added that the Rome prosecution believes there to be sufficient evidence, documenting the direct involvement of the Egyptian security services in the murder of Regeni. However, Egypt’s staunch refusal to provide the legal residences of the five suspects may jeopardize the standing of the case.

Regeni, a PhD candidate at Cambridge University who was researching independent trade unions in Egypt, disappeared from a metro station on January 25, 2016 — the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution — while on his way to meet a friend in downtown Cairo. His body was found several days later, on February 3, on the side of a highway on the outskirts of the city bearing marks of severe torture.

The Italian sources tell Mada Masr that if the Egyptians do not cooperate in providing the long-requested legal residences of the five suspects, the Rome prosecution may make their investigation public, a step that the source believes the Egyptian government would want to avoid. 

Following internal Italian government divides over a proposed 1.2 billion euro sale of two Fremm frigates to Egypt over the summer given the lack of cooperation into the investigation of the murder of Regeni, Egyptian and Rome prosecutors met in July. Following the meeting the Rome prosecution released a statement, saying that there was a need for a tangible response from the Egyptian but insisting that they would not recall the Italian ambassador to Egypt, a move it had previously made. 

According to the French newspaper La Tribune, the Italian-Egyptian arms deal comes in the context of Italy and Germany increasing their arms exports to Egypt as France has decreased its arms sales following French President Emmanuel Macron's criticism of Egypt’s human rights record during his first visit to Cairo in January 2019. Between 2014 and 2018, France was the largest arms exporter to Egypt, accounting for 37 percent of sales, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The sale of the two Fremm frigates was part of a larger 9 to 10 billion-euro mega-deal, which was first reported in the Italian press in early February and included six frigates, 24 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, 24 M-346 jet trainer aircraft and a surveillance satellite.