Important hearing this morning, Tuesday 9 April, of the trial on the case of Giulio Regeni, who passed away on 25 January 2016 in Cairo. Question yourself Claudio Regenifather of the Friulian researcher, a colonel of the ROS carabinieri who investigated the affair and one Giulio’s classmate. The hearing was scheduled for 9.30 am but due to a technical problem with the microphones it was postponed to 10.20 am.
Towards the four accused, General Tariq Sabir, Colonels Athar Kamal and Uhsam Helmi and Major Magdi Ibrahim Abdel Sharif, the Prosecutor’s Office disputes, depending on the positions, complicity in aggravated personal injury, aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping. The torture to which Giulio was subjected for nine days before the murder is also at the center of the proceedings. «Being captured by officers of the Egyptian secret services – the lawyers of the civil party in the courtroom recalled in previous hearings – is already an undeniable physical and mental violence. In those 9 days Giulio was unable to speak to our embassy, much less to a lawyer: we think that denying this suffering is questionable.”
Outside the judicial citadel to show closeness to parents also the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. «Once again we are here alongside the Regeni family – he states – This is a very important process and it is an issue that concerns our Republic and not just a single family. We must not forget that this process has also encountered enormous obstacles for relations with Egypt.”
And the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, guest of “Start”, on SkyTg24 states: «We are not giving up on the search for the truth regarding the Regeni case. We hope to resolve the matter. We are working with the Egyptian government through “moral suasion”. With Zaki we managed to get him back to Italy, we hope to have positive results also on the Regeni affair.”
Father Claudio’s testimony: “We traveled a lot with our children, interested in understanding new cultures and speaking different languages”
In court his father Claudio outlines his son’s life and tells his story. «From the age of 4 to 14 I lived in Australia. We also traveled a lot with our children, interested in understanding new cultures and speaking different languages. We also raised our children with this open-mindedness. We have been many times to the south of France, Spain, Portugal, the North Cape, passing through Finland, Norway, Denmark. In 1999 we stayed in Australia for a month so that Giulio and Irene could get to know my places. Both passionate about history and language. Giulio spoke English, Arabic, Spanish and German well and was studying French.”
As a boy he coordinated the young people of Fiumicello and welcomed foreign kids. «He was very respectful of others. He left home for the United States at 17, in Montezuma, to attend a course of studies that allowed access to universities all over the world. He went, from 2007 to 2011, to the north of England and the last year to Egypt in Cairo. He studied international political science and Arab culture. We went to visit him in Cairo. He did his master’s degree in Cambridge and dealt with developing countries in the Mediterranean, in particular Egypt. In 2011 there was the Arab Spring and he explored this topic in depth. At the same time he also had experiences in Syria.”