The Prime Minister has decided to become a civil party in the trial on the murder of Giulio Regeni. This was learned from sources in Palazzo Chigi on the eve of the start of the trial.
The first hearing in the trial against four 007s from Cairo accused of the kidnapping and murder of Giulio Regeni is scheduled for October 14. A first hearing that will be “technical”, totally absorbed by procedural issues. The first knot, the same that had arisen in the preliminary hearing before the gup, is that linked to the presence at trial of the four of the National Securety: General Sabir Tariq, Colonels Usham Helmi, Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim, and Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif. The judges will have to assess whether the removal of the defendants from the proceedings was voluntary.
The Public Prosecutor of Rome will reiterate that the publicity, media and not only, given to the investigation and the trial is such as to make it “well known”. A position shared by the judge for the preliminary hearings who, in sending the four to trial, judged the decision not to be present in the courtroom “voluntary”. If the Court of Assizes also adopts this approach, the trial will be able to continue with the defendants judged in absentia, otherwise the judges could ask for a suspension of the proceedings.
Against the four the prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco disputes the crimes, depending on the positions, of multiple kidnapping of a person in aggravated homicide and complicity in aggravated personal injury. At the moment, the parents of the researcher found lifeless in February 2016 and now also the presidency of the council have filed a civil action.
In the list of texts deposited, Paola and Claudio Regeni ask to hear as witnesses the presidents of the Council who have followed one another in Italy over the last five years: Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte and the prime minister in office Mario Draghi. The civil party also mentions the foreign ministers and undersecretaries who, over the years, have been delegated to the secret services. In total there are eight witnesses heard by the Prosecutor’s Office who in recent months have provided elements determined to reconstruct what happened between January and February 2016 in Cairo. Eight people who clearly and credibly accuse the four.