Three Egyptian security officials have been convicted in absentia by a Rome court in connection with the kidnapping of Giulio Regeni, an Italian doctoral student whose body was discovered bearing signs of torture in Cairo in 2016.
The court sentenced the three men, who denied the charges, to 10 years in prison on charges of aggravated kidnapping. A fourth defendant was acquitted.
Regeni, 28, was a Cambridge University student researching labor movements in Egypt when he disappeared during a trip to the country in 2016. His body was found days later in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo. An autopsy confirmed he had been subjected to torture.
Italian and Egyptian prosecutors initially collaborated on the investigation but ultimately presented conflicting conclusions. Egyptian authorities maintained that criminal gangs were responsible for Regeni's death, proposing alternative explanations such as a car accident, a failed drug deal, or a robbery gone wrong. They consistently denied any state involvement in his disappearance or death.
However, prosecutors in Rome concluded that Egypt's national security agency was implicated in the crime. The convicted officials were identified as Gen Tariq Sabir, Col Usham Helmi, Col Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim, and Maj Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif. Sabir was the defendant who was acquitted.
Alessandra Ballerini, a lawyer for Regeni's family, and Rome's chief prosecutor welcomed the verdict. "From today, people around the world can feel safer," Ballerini stated. "Impunity can be defeated and democracies can place limits on arbitrary power." The Regeni family has for years campaigned for justice. In court, family members and supporters, many wearing yellow—the color of their campaign—observed the verdict in silence, according to AFP reports.