Members of an Egyptian gang that abducted foreigners to rob them and were killed in Cairo by security forces were “linked to the murder” of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, the site of Egyptian daily El Watan said Thursday citing a security source.
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Police found a bag belonging to the student during a raid on a flat in which all the members of the gangs were killed, the interior ministry said.
Regeni went missing January 25, the fifth anniversary of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, when police were deployed across Cairo in a broad security sweep to prevent any demonstrations. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. The interior ministry released photos Regeni’s student ID card and passport that were discovered after the gunfight.
Regeni death sparked worldwide outcry with Italian government putting pressure on Egypt to find those responsible for his death “The security forces managed to track down a gang in New Cairo that used to pose as policemen”.
It added that the Egyptian authorities have notified their Italian counterparts and expressed their appreciation for the Italians’ cooperation.
In the days following his disappearance, friends and colleagues launched a search, circulating Regeni’s picture widely on social media.
His body was found a week later at the side of a road on Cairo’s outskirts, bearing the signs of brutal torture.
When his body was found, prosecutors said there were bruises, knife wounds and cigarette burns all over his body suggesting he had suffered a “slow death”. An Italian government delegation cut short a visit to Cairo and Italy summoned the Egyptian ambassador in Rome, calling for a full investigation with participation by Italian experts.
“The source said that the security services continue to do their job to get to the bottom of the murder of the Italian and the crimes committed by this band and (establish) if there is a relationship between them”.
Rights groups accuse the police of widespread abuses against Egyptians since the army toppled Egypt’s first freely elected president in 2013.
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Earlier this month the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning “the torture and assassination” of Regeni in Egypt, describing the killing as not being isolated but taking place in a “context of torture, death in custody and enforced disappearances”.
