Egypt allows Italian investigators to retrieve footage of murdered student

Egypt has confirmed that it will allow Italian investigators to retrieve video footage showing the last captured moments of murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni. The 28 year-old Cambridge University student was found dead last February after disappearing in late January. His body was found dumped on the outskirts of Cairo showing clear marks that he had been tortured.

The Italian authorities have condemned the Egyptians’ handling of the case as “slow and dishonest”. It is believed widely that Regeni was tortured to death by Egyptian security officials while interrogating him over his investigative work on street vendor trade unions in Cairo. Egypt denies the claims, alleging that the PhD student died as a result of a road accident.

The CCTV footage is believed to come from security cameras at a central Cairo metro station which recorded the last images of the Italian student alive before his disappearance.

Cairo will also send experts from “the only German company specialised in retrieving data from the camera recording device” at the metro station, a prosecution statement explained. The software needed to recover the deleted footage is expensive; Egypt has asked Italy to help fund it.

Last year, Egyptian prosecutors questioned officers who, it was claimed, found Regeni’s belongings, including his passport, in the home of a criminal gang leader’s wife. The officers’ account was denounced by Italy, prompting claims of a police cover-up when Egypt went back on the officers’ story, saying that the criminal gang may not have been linked with the murder.

The lack of effort from the Egyptian authorities in bringing those responsible for Regeni’s death to justice has added further strains on the country’s relations with Italy. In April, Rome recalled its ambassador to Cairo in protest at the “slow pace” of the investigation and Egypt’s lack of cooperation.