Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid condemned Amnesty International on Wednesday for its comments and allegations made against Egypt regarding the death of PhD student Giulio Regeni.
Italian media said that Amnesty International sent a letter to the Italian foreign ministry accusing Egypt of inaction in the Regeni case.
Abu Zeid told journalists that he is amazed that the organisation did not mention in its letter that the University of Cambridge did not cooperate with Italian investigators. “This affirms their bias,” he added.
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said Tuesday that the Regeni case has impacted Egyptian-Italian relations as it has built a presumptive Italian public opinion that steps ahead of investigations.
In an interview on a state-run radio channel, Shoukry added that Egypt is keen on cooperating with Italian investigators and on taking every measure to ensure that the truth about Regeni’s death is uncovered.
Cambridge University denied the accusations made by Italian officials that it is not cooperating with Italian investigations in the case.
A letter published by The Guardian and signed by several Cambridge professors denounced the Italian reports, which claimed that Regeni’s professor refused to help investigators and withheld information about his work in Egypt.
“These allegations are simply not true,” read the letter. “All those at Cambridge associated with Giulio Regeni have cooperated with the investigation from the beginning, providing answers to any questions, either orally or in writing.”
Regeni went missing on 25 January and his battered body was found over a week later on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road.
