Maurizio Massari, Italian ambassador in Egypt, had been called back from Cairo as a sign of protest against Egypt's handling of the investigation into Giulio Regeni’s death. The ambassador's seat has remained empty since April 8, 2016.
The honorary president of Intersos, Nino Sergi, published on February 16 a plea addressed to Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and the Italian minister of foreign affairs, pleading for the return of the Italian ambassador in Cairo.
Sergi argues that the ambassador's return is a necessity now, over a year after the tragic death of Giulio Regeni. As the investigation tramples on, Sergi said that the diplomatic presence of an ambassador may improve the effectiveness of the investigation and help find those responsible, and it may also improve the tense international context by a renewal in the Italian-Egyptian relations.
Still no justice for Giulio Regeni
The 28-year-old Cambridge PhD student was found dead on February 3, 2016, on the edge of the highway connecting Cairo to Alexandria. His body showed clear signs of torture, including beatings, electrocutions and mutilations, according to forensic experts and prosecutors in Egypt.
Egyptian police first claimed he was hit by a car before asserting he was the victim of a robbery gang accidentally killed by the police during their arrest. Even though Egyptian police, Army and intelligence services denied any kind of involvement in Regeni’s death and torture and promised their full cooperation, Italian investigators in Egypt have had to peel away layers of false leads and attempts to cover up what really happened to Giulio Regeni: city surveillance footage was erased, phone records are suddenly constitutionally protected, and witnesses interrogations are made only under an Egyptian surveillance and supervision.
It seems in that sense that Egyptian officials may have hoped that Italy and the world would believe their explanations on the Regeni case, but the obvious signs of torture on the body raised an alarm in Rome, so much so that, in light of the poor conduct of the investigation, the Italian government decided to recall Ambassador Massari as a sign of protest.
A state-sponsored murder?
Italian officials are suspicious of the involvement of Egyptian state agents in Giulio’s murder. Reuters and The New York Times affirm that Regeni was picked up by Egyptian police officers in the night of January 25 as he was going to a party at a friend’s.
Al Jazeera also confirmed that Regeni was under surveillance by the government, as he was doing research on Egyptian unions and was suspected of being a spy.
In La Repubblica, investigative journalist Carlo Bonini wrote, "A year on, we can say beyond any reasonable doubt that Regeni’s death is a case of state-sponsored murder."
Return would mean giving up on Giulio
The return of the Italian ambassador in Cairo could mean a return to normality and a sign that Italian investigators are giving up. In a way, it would be a tacit approval of the Egyptian version of Regeni’s death and a silent announcement that Italy considers Regeni’s case, in a diplomatic and judicial sense, closed.
Moreover, as Maurizio Massari is now a permanent representative of Italy in Brussels, he will not return to Cairo himself, and the nomination of a successor may be interpreted as a definitive end to the unsolved Regeni case.
Instead of backing down, Italy could and should instead increase its pressure on Egypt and on its police and intelligence services to solve Regeni’s murder. We will have no peace until we get peace and justice for Giulio.
