‘Italy betrayed us’ says mother of Regeni over Egypt arms deal

Giulio Regeni’s mother has said that the Italian state has betrayed her family after the European country’s recent approval of an arms deal to Egypt.

“We were betrayed by friendly fire, not by Egypt. One cannot expect to struggle against one’s state for justice. This is a betrayal for all Italians who believe in the inviolability of rights.”

Giulio Regeni was tortured to death and dumped by the side of a highway in Egypt in 2016, widely believed to be by intelligence officials.

He was in Cairo researching independent trade unions as part of his PhD which he was doing at Cambridge University in the UK.

Since his brutal death, rights activists along with his family have tried to pressure the Italian government to put the brakes on their relationship with Egypt until his murder is resolved.

Egypt has refused to cooperate with the investigation into his murder, initially claiming he was killed by an armed gang.

At first relations between the two countries turned cold and Italy withdrew their ambassador from Cairo. However, hopes that the North African country would be held to account were dashed when the ambassador was reinstated in 2017, just one year later.

READ: Activist tortured for raising rainbow flag in Egypt commits suicide

Italy’s relations with Egypt have improved in recent years, despite the fact that Regeni’s murder remains unsolved.

The latest evidence of this is Italy’s approval last week of an arms deal to Egypt worth $1.2 billion – Egypt is set to buy two frigates from the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

The deal is the beginning of a weapons deal between the two countries worth some €10 billion ($11.3 billion), which would be the largest arms deal in Egypt’s history.

The deal has ignited an outcry given Egypt’s serious, escalating human rights abuses including in the Sinai Peninsula where the army is fighting a disproportionate and unsuccessful war on terror which has largely targeted locals.

Whilst Italy has described the exchange as the deal of the century, a spokesman for Amnesty International told the Guardian that it is “the shame of the century”.

The Italian parliament’s lower house cut relations with Egypt in 2017 as leverage to try and secure a proper investigation into Regeni’s death, but Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte overrode this and pressed ahead with the arms sale.

READ: Egypt lights up Rome embassy in Italy flag as pressure builds on relationship

Amnesty is demanding the deal be put to a parliamentary vote.

Several experts have said that the deal is compensation for the political pressure being put on Italy to resolve the Regeni case.

In line with this, there was an outcry at the beginning of Cairo’s coronavirus pandemic when Egypt sent medical aid to Italy despite severe shortages at home and a health care system which is on its knees due to government neglect.

Egypt has just taken out a $2.8 billion loan from the IMF as it buckles under pressure from preventative measures put in place to combat COVID-19 casting doubts on Cairo’s ability to be able to pay for the arms.