A tripartite parliamentary committee decided on Tuesday to summon representatives from the interior and foreign ministry, national intelligence, and public prosecution next Monday to follow up on the investigations’ developments into Giulio Regeni’s case.
The committee that is made up of representatives from the parliament’s committees of human rights, foreign affairs and national defense, and security, was formed in light of Italy’s senate decision to halt military supplies to Egypt. The Italian side is claiming that Egypt is not fully cooperating in investigating Regeni’s death and is failing to update Italy with the results of the investigations.
Regeni, who was a visiting Cambridge scholar at the American University in Cairo, was reported missing in the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. His body was found on a desert road on 3 February, showing signs of physical torture.
Member of Parliament Tarek El-Khouly told Daily News Egypt that the committee discussed the right method to communicate with the Italian side during its meeting, and whether an official delegation should be sent to Italy now, or once the investigations were completed.
“We demanded to revise the agreement between Italy and Egypt concerning the military supplies, in order to understand the current legal situation of Egypt,” El-Khouly said, adding that the parliament should be aware of Egypt’s legal situation and discuss the alternatives to the halted supplies.
According to El-Khouly, the Egyptian side is as keen as the Italian side to reach fruitful findings in the investigations because the current situation is not in anyone’s interest. He further continued that it is irrational to take such escalatory steps in the relations between the two countries because of a criminal incident.
Egyptian-Italian relations have witnessed severe tension over the past few months since Regeni’s death. The Egyptian side is failing to provide substantial findings in the case. Italy recalled its ambassador to Egypt in protest of the consultations into the investigations into Regeni’s death.
