UK Foreign Office calls for ‘full’ investigation into Regeni’s death

A spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) called for a “full and transparent” investigation into Italian student Giulio Regeni’s murder on Tuesday.  

The statement follows media pressure over a petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling on the UK government to respond to Regeni’s murder and subsequent investigations.

"The UK government has a duty to ensure that a credible investigation of this extrajudicial killing is carried out,” the petition stated, as Regeni was in Egypt conducting research for his PhD on labor movements at the University of Cambridge.

Regeni’s body was found on February 3 by the side of a road on the outskirts of Cairo bearing signs of torture, including cigarette burns, bruises, cuts and multiple stab wounds. He disappeared on January 25 while on his way to meet a friend in downtown Cairo, an area that was heavily occupied by security forces for the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution.

“We are very concerned by reports that Mr. Regeni had been subjected to torture,” a spokesperson for the FCO said.

“We had raised his case with the Egyptian authorities in both London and Cairo and underlined the need for a full and transparent investigation. We remain in contact with both Italian and Egyptian authorities. Our thoughts are with Mr. Regeni’s friends and family at this difficult time,” Cambridge News reported.

Cambridge University released an official statement on April 5 calling for a “full and transparent” investigation into Regeni’s murder and stating that they had concerns about the state of the investigation into his death.

“I would like to know what is being done to uncover the truth and what I can tell Giulio's friends and colleagues in Cambridge about the circumstances of his terrible death,” said Professor David Runciman, head of the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.

Investigations by Egyptian authorities into Regeni’s death have been called into question by Italian authorities. Italy recalled their ambassador from Egypt on Friday after reports Egyptian authorities had failed to hand over key evidence to their Italian counterparts.