Italy: 4 Egyptian officers should be tried for murder

By Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - Italian prosecutors requested Wednesday that four Egyptian officials be tried for the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Egypt, Italian media reported.

Gen. Tariq Sabir, Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim, Uhsam Helmi and Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif are accused of “crimes that range from aggravated involvement in homicide to kidnapping and grievous bodily harm,” while working for Egypt’s intelligence service, according to the ANSA news agency.

If the requests are upheld, the suspects are likely to be tried in absentia in Italy.

But Egypt's Prosecutor General Hamada al Sawi said the evidence is insufficient to prove the charges.

Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old doctoral student studying in Egypt, vanished Jan. 25, 2016, the fifth anniversary of a popular uprising that forced then-President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power. Nine days later his body was found on a highway.

Egyptian authorities deny any involvement in Regeni’s death but observers have noted signs of torture on his body were uncannily similar to signs caused by Egyptian police torture.