‘Signs of torture’ on body of student found lying beside road in Egyptian capital

An Italian student was burned and tortured before his body was dumped by the side of a highway on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, investigators said on Thursday. Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old PhD student at Cambridge University, suffered multiple stab wounds and cigarette burns. His body was found along the Cairo-Alexandria Road in a western suburb of the city, said prosecutor, Ahmed Nagi, who added it appeared to have been a “slow death”. He said “all of his body, including his face” had bruises, cuts from stabbings and burns from cigarettes.

We have to wait for the full report by forensic experts. But what we know is that it is an accident

Investigator Alaa Azmi contradicts torture reports

Mr Regeni went missing more than a week ago as police swarmed the streets on the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The prosecutor’s torture claims were at odds with remarks from another investigator, Alaa Azmi, who said his body found on Wednesday morning with “bruises and cuts.” He claimed an initial investigation showed it was a road accident and no burns were mentioned in a preliminary forensic report. Italy’s foreign ministry said it has urgently summoned the Egyptian ambassador to explain and called for Italian experts to be called into the investigation.

The Italian government has asked the Egyptian authorities to make every effort to ascertain the truth … and immediately launch a joint investigation with the participation of Italian experts

Italian foreign ministry

Giulio Regeni