Egypt Rejects Italy’s Accusations, Closes Student’s Murder Case

The Egyptian public prosecution on Wednesday officially closed its investigation into the brutal torture and murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo four years ago, rejecting Italian investigators’ allegations that Egypt’s security officials were the perpetrators of the heinous killing. On Dec. 10, Rome declared it would indict four senior members of Egypt’s national security agency, and allowed Cairo 20 days to respond to the charges. The prosecution’s Wednesday announcement was made just as that deadline expired, clearing the four men of any wrongdoing and formally terminating the local investigation. In the statement, Egypt accused Italian investigators of falsifying and concealing evidence and blamed Regeni’s parents for stealing their son’s laptop from his room following his death. The 28-year-old Regeni, a Cambridge University student, was researching unionized street vendors in Egypt’s capital for his doctoral thesis when he disappeared in January 2016. His body resurfaced over a week later, bearing signs of extensive torture that Italian officials and several witnesses say was carried out at Cairo’s national security agency’s offices. The four indicted individuals will now stand trial in Italy, in absentia.