Egypt, Italy investigators say 'gaps' found in Regeni case footage

Egyptian and Italian prosecutors have found gaps in footage from inside and around Cairo metro stations where murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni disappeared in 2016 and will seek to discover the cause, they said yesterday.

They said the recordings which were examined by experts representing both prosecution offices showed no “videos or images” of Regeni, a 28-year-old PhD student who was researching the Egyptian labour movement. The student was found murdered almost a week after e disappeared.

“Through examinations, a number of ‘gaps’ appeared in the recovered content – images and videos that are lost and haven’t been restored – and as such, the view of the two prosecutors concluded that there is a need to conduct further advanced technical checks to find out the reasons for that,” said the statement, issued by the Egyptian prosecutor’s office and sent to journalists.

“This is what the Egyptian public prosecutor has ordered …,” it added, referring to the checks.

The statement said that as part of the joint cooperation between the two prosecution offices in trying to find out those behind the kidnaping, torture and killing of Regeni, the next meeting to review the investigation would be held after the checks are conducted.

Read: Egypt security forces target Regeni family’s legal team

A similar statement was issued in Rome by the Italian capital’s prosecutor and carried by Italy’s ANSA news agency.

Egypt agreed last year to allow experts from Italy and a German company that specialises in salvaging CCTV footage to examine cameras in Cairo.

Regeni disappeared on 25 January 2016 the anniversary of the start of 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. His body was discovered on 3 February and Egyptian investigators found signs of extensive torture.

Intelligence and security sources told Reuters in 2016 that police had arrested Regeni outside a Cairo metro station on 25 January and then transferred him to a compound run by Homeland Security.

Egyptian officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in Regeni’s death.