Footage from where Cambridge academic was last seen is missing, say Italian prosecutors

The investigation into the torture and murder of Giulio Regeni, the Cambridge doctoral student who was killed in Cairo more than two years ago, faced another setback this week after prosecutors said video surveillance of the metro station where he was last seen contained unexplained gaps and no images of the Italian student.

Italian prosecutors leading the investigation said in a statement on Wednesday that “further investigations were needed to ascertain the causes” of the gaps in the surveillance footage from 25 January 2016. Italian authorities had demanded the surveillance tapes for more than two years from Egyptian authorities, who have been accused of stonewalling the investigation.

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Regeni, 28, was conducting sensitive research into labour unions at the time of his death. He is widely believed to have been killed by forces within Egypt’s security services, although the precise nature of why he was targeted, and who was responsible for his murder, have remained a mystery.



His tortured and mutilated body was found in a roadside ditch near Cairo on 3 February 2016, eight days after he disappeared. Egypt has denied any involvement in his murder.

The tapes have been seen as a vital piece of evidence of where Regeni was going and who might have abducted him. Egyptian authorities reportedly secured the videos one week after they were initially requested.



They were deemed useless by the Egyptian authorities, who said the critical footage had already been erased. It nevertheless took more than two years to negotiate the handover of the footage from Egypt to Italy, where investigators were disappointed with what they found.

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The case has been at the centre of intense diplomatic tension, not only because of the alleged involvement of the government of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, but because Egyptian authorities have failed to offer adequate assistance to Italian investigators.

Italy sought to improve diplomatic relations with Egypt last year, and reinstated its ambassador there after tensions over the Regeni investigation prompted the former centre-left government to remove its top diplomat from Cairo. At the time of the reinstatement of the ambassador, the then-foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, called Egypt an “unavoidable partner”, but Regeni’s parents criticised the move, calling it a “dressed-up surrender”.

The new populist government appears ready to forge an even closer relationship, despite the ongoing questions over Regeni’s murder. Matteo Salvini, the interior minister, said earlier this month that he understood the desire of Regeni’s family to seek justice “but for us, having a good relationship with an important country like Egypt is fundamental”.