Parents of slain student Giulio Regeni question Egypt’s Interior Ministry claims

In front of a large banner reading “Truth for Giulio Regeni,” the parents of the PhD student who was tortured and killed in Egypt spoke at a televised press conference at Italy’s Senate on Tuesday. 

During the conference, Giulio’s parents questioned the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s latest claim that their son died at the hands of an alleged gang that specializes in robbing foreigners. Egypt’s Interior Ministry issued a detailed statement claiming that it had shot dead all members of this gang on March 24.  

This latest account from Egyptian authorities has been largely dismissed by Regeni’s family, Italian investigators, and even by Egyptian prosecutors, who denied that there was a link between the gang and Regeni’s death.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Giulio’s mother stated that the family will expect a firm response from the Italian state if Egyptian investigators fail to provide convincing answers during their meeting with authorities in Rome on April 5.

"If April 5 turns out to be an empty day, we trust in a strong response from our government – a very, very strong one,” she said.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Giulio’s parents were calling on Italian authorities to declare Egypt an "unsafe" destination for travel, in light of the unsolved case of their son’s torture and murder.

Senator Luigi Manconi, who heads the Italian Senate's Human Rights Commission, urged the Italian government to recall its ambassador to Cairo for "consultations" as a way to step up diplomatic pressure, AP added. 

The Italian news agency ANSA also reported on Tuesday that Manconi stated, "I think it is necessary to consider the revision of diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries.”

Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Giulio’s father commented, "I believe that the proposals made by Senator Manconi are the correct response in the absence of cooperation."

ANSA also reported that, in a phone call to Rome prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone on Monday, Egypt’s Prosecutor General Nabil Sadeq promised to hand over case evidence to Italian investigators on April 5.

This evidence reportedly includes all cell phone records and CCTV footage from the area by Regeni's apartment in Cairo, along with details of his departure and arrival via metro stations on the night he disappeared and details pertaining to the suburban area where his body was found nearly 10 days later.

Regeni's mother explained, "We have been waiting for answers about Giulio since January 25," the day which her son disappeared in Cairo. Regeni's body was later discovered in a ditch in a Cairo suburb on February 3 bearing signs of torture, burns and mutilation.

"At the mortuary I only recognized Giulio by the tip of his nose," his mother stated, adding that she had witnessed "the world's evil" in the brutality inflicted on her son’s dead body. "What they did to him is unspeakable," she said.

Following the claims issued by Egypt’s Interior Ministry last weekend, Giulio’s parents had informed Italian investigators that most of the items which were said to be their son’s personal possessions, such as three sunglasses and a red handbag, did not belong to him, with the exception of his passport and student ID cards.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry claimed that it had found Regeni’s personal possessions at an apartment in the Qalyubia governorate, which was said to be linked to the gang.

At the Italian Senate on Tuesday, Regeni's father told ANSA, "We have never had the feeling that the Egyptian government wants to cooperate seriously."