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Egypt rejects EU criticism of human rights

March 12, 2016 at 1:18 pm

The Egyptian foreign ministry rejected EU criticism of human rights in the country on Friday, calling it “baseless”. The criticism is not based on “true evidence,” insisted Cairo.

In a statement, reported Almesryoon.com, the ministry rejected the EU’s “mixing” of the apparent torture and murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni with the decision to criticise the human rights record of the Egyptian government. It insisted that such “gestures” pre-empt the outcome of the ongoing investigation into the young man’s death. The Italian prime minister has stressed that his country’s friendship with Egypt is linked to the findings of the investigation.

The ministry made its comments after the EU parliament called for the Egyptian authorities to carry out a “quick, transparent and objective” investigation into Regeni’s death. His body was found in a ditch in Cairo last month. The parliament stressed the belief that the student’s murder and human rights in Egypt are inextricably linked.

A majority of MEPs voted in favour of a resolution condemning the killing of Regeni, as the EU called on all of its 28 member states to stick to the rules relating to the export of military IT and hardware to Egypt.