The body of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni, who was found dead in Cairo last week, has been repatriated to Italy where Regeni was a citizen.
The investigations into Regeni’s death have been bolstered by the arrival of a delegation of Italian investigators to Cairo on Friday who will take part in the investigations.
Egyptian Ambassador to Rome Amr Helmy told the Italian News Agency (ANSA) on Friday that the Egyptian government is addressing the incident objectively and with seriousness, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
Last seen near the Behoos metro station in Dokki, Giulio Regeni was found dead along the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road highway late on Wednesday. His body bore marks of physical trauma and possible torture, according to a security source.
ANSA reported that two people were arrested on Friday over the case. The Ministry of Interior has refused to confirm this report.
However, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told Italian media that the arrests are far from helpful in clarifying the unknown elements of Regeni’s death.
While the motive behind the crime has yet to be ascertained, the Italian newspaper La Stampa speculated that Regeni’s contacts and meetings with labour unions in Egypt caught the “attention” of the police.
Regeni, who had just turned 28, was a PhD student at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and had come to Cairo as a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo (AUC). He was reported missing on the fifth anniversary of 25 January Revolution. He was last known to be travelling to Downtown Cairo via the Behoos metro station.
