News briefing
Translated and edited by: The Committee for Justice
Geneva, May 30, 2021
The spokeswoman for the Committee for Justice (CFJ), Yasmine Hajar, said that the Regeni case reflects the systematic violations of human rights committed by the Egyptian authorities against the entire society, whether foreigners or civilians. Likewise, political detainees from across the ideological and political spectrum are now held in Egyptian detention facilities and are at risk of torture.
In a telephone interview by Hajar on the British BBC Radio, she said that “on January 25, 2016, Giulio Regeni, who was conducting his research on trade unions in Cairo, went missing. This was on the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. Nine days later, his body was found on the side of a highway. The examination of the body, which happened in Italy, confirmed that Giulio actually underwent severe torture.”
“After four years, in December 2020, the Rome prosecutors finally closed the case investigation, confirming with unequivocal evidence that four national security agents are actually involved in the abduction, torture and extrajudicial killings of Giulio Regeni,” CFJ’s spokeswoman added.
Hajar indicated that the Egyptian authorities completely opposed this conclusion, claiming through their so-called investigation, which was marred by many flaws, that the murderer of Regeni is unknown, refusing to include the name of the four national security officers in the case files.
On the expected results of the Italian trial of the Regeni killers, Hajar indicated that it is likely that the sentences will be handed in absentia against the accused Egyptians.
The spokeswoman also expected that the defence lawyer would, as far as possible, postpone any possibility of a court hearing any time soon. This is to allow the Egyptian side to take as much time as possible to get away from the case. Or they will try to present documents that contradict the conclusion of the Italian prosecutor and also try to delay the issuance of the court’s ruling as much as possible.
“Political detainees held in Egyptian places of detention are exposed to different kinds of violations: torture, denial of medical care, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance. Cases of death by torture and denial of medical care amounted to more than a thousand from 2013 until 2020. This number is huge.”
“Egyptian authorities are trying to crack down on any opposition, even based on mere suspicion. They are trying to silence voices, just to try to strengthen the dictatorship, and to consider any person who peacefully practices their rights and freedoms as suspects who should be exposed to all these violations as a means of spreading fear,” Hajar concluded.
