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| President defends Egypt's investigation of Giulio Regeni murder | President defends Egypt's investigation of Giulio Regeni murder |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has defended his country’s handling of the investigation into the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, and said that allegations of complicity on the part of Egypt’s security forces were putting the country at risk. | The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has defended his country’s handling of the investigation into the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, and said that allegations of complicity on the part of Egypt’s security forces were putting the country at risk. |
| Sisi’s comments showed he was standing by Egypt’s official position that government-sanctioned forces had no role in the torture and murder of Regeni, even though experts and activists have said they believe his death bore all the hallmarks of Egypt’s notorious secret police. | Sisi’s comments showed he was standing by Egypt’s official position that government-sanctioned forces had no role in the torture and murder of Regeni, even though experts and activists have said they believe his death bore all the hallmarks of Egypt’s notorious secret police. |
| The remarks came as signs emerged on Wednesday that Egypt was ready to capitulate to a demand by Italian investigators for certain mobile phone records that, after weeks of stalling, could help to identify the possible perpetrators behind Regeni’s 25 January disappearance. | The remarks came as signs emerged on Wednesday that Egypt was ready to capitulate to a demand by Italian investigators for certain mobile phone records that, after weeks of stalling, could help to identify the possible perpetrators behind Regeni’s 25 January disappearance. |
| Sisi used his often cryptic and rambling nationally televised speech on Wednesday to address criticisms levelled at the government’s handling of the case, which most recently saw an increasingly frustrated Italy recall its ambassador to Cairo for consultations in Rome. | |
| He defended what he said was an investigation being conducted with “utmost transparency” into the death of Regeni. The academic researcher’s body was found bearing signs of torture on 4 February in an outlying district of Cairo. | He defended what he said was an investigation being conducted with “utmost transparency” into the death of Regeni. The academic researcher’s body was found bearing signs of torture on 4 February in an outlying district of Cairo. |
| Sisi attacked the way the case was being perceived both at home and abroad, saying that Egyptians who were spreading “lies” about the case had endangered the country. | Sisi attacked the way the case was being perceived both at home and abroad, saying that Egyptians who were spreading “lies” about the case had endangered the country. |
| “We Egyptians started circulating these allegations and lies, we made this problem ourselves, we made this problem for Egypt,” he added, referring to the ongoing suspicions that Egyptian security forces were responsible for Regeni’s death. | “We Egyptians started circulating these allegations and lies, we made this problem ourselves, we made this problem for Egypt,” he added, referring to the ongoing suspicions that Egyptian security forces were responsible for Regeni’s death. |
| He said the involvement of the country’s judiciary had added to the credibility of the case and admonished journalists for making “social media your source”. | He said the involvement of the country’s judiciary had added to the credibility of the case and admonished journalists for making “social media your source”. |
| The remarks were seen as a “bad sign” by Raffaele Marchetti, professor of international relations at Luiss University in Rome. | The remarks were seen as a “bad sign” by Raffaele Marchetti, professor of international relations at Luiss University in Rome. |
| “It makes the situation even more difficult and, as is usually the case, authoritarian governments usually take advantage of external pressure to repress even more,” Marchetti said, pointing to Sisi’s accusations against the media. | “It makes the situation even more difficult and, as is usually the case, authoritarian governments usually take advantage of external pressure to repress even more,” Marchetti said, pointing to Sisi’s accusations against the media. |
| “He seems to have taken, as other officials have, to referring in the same breath to an Egyptian national who went missing in Italy as though there’s some kind of comparison here,” said HA Hellyer, of the Royal United Services Institute. | “He seems to have taken, as other officials have, to referring in the same breath to an Egyptian national who went missing in Italy as though there’s some kind of comparison here,” said HA Hellyer, of the Royal United Services Institute. |
| “Cairo’s authorities seem to think that as long as they talk about transparency, it will become a reality – but Rome patently doesn’t see things as transparent, and Italian public opinion doesn’t either,” he added. | “Cairo’s authorities seem to think that as long as they talk about transparency, it will become a reality – but Rome patently doesn’t see things as transparent, and Italian public opinion doesn’t either,” he added. |
| “Sisi knows that there’s a lot of pressure, but he seems unable to recognise how badly Cairo’s stance is actually received in Italy. Cairo appears to think it can hold on to what it’s doing so far and eventually this problem will just go away,” he said. | “Sisi knows that there’s a lot of pressure, but he seems unable to recognise how badly Cairo’s stance is actually received in Italy. Cairo appears to think it can hold on to what it’s doing so far and eventually this problem will just go away,” he said. |
| The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, told journalists in Cairo on Tuesday that Egypt could circumvent supposed constitutional obstacles to handing over phone records pertaining to the case, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. Officials at Egypt’s foreign affairs ministry later denied this to the Guardian, saying that Shoukry had agreed to convey necessary information, but that this did not mean giving up the phone records. | |
| Shoukry later said the investigation could take some time, comparing it to the year-long investigation into the death of Egyptian public prosecutor Hisham Barakat in June 2015. | |
| The remarks were important because Egyptian officials had earlier suggested that they had found and killed members of a criminal gang they believed were responsible for Regeni’s murder, a theory that was roundly rejected by Italian officials as implausible. | The remarks were important because Egyptian officials had earlier suggested that they had found and killed members of a criminal gang they believed were responsible for Regeni’s murder, a theory that was roundly rejected by Italian officials as implausible. |
| If Egypt moves to hand over some phone records, it could help thaw increasingly frosty relations between Cairo and Rome over the case. | If Egypt moves to hand over some phone records, it could help thaw increasingly frosty relations between Cairo and Rome over the case. |