There are signs that the Egyptian authorities are becoming slightly more cooperative in their dealings with Italy over death of Giulio Regeni.

Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian studying for a doctorate at Cambridge University, disappeared in Cairo on January 25. Nine days later his body – showing extensive signs of torture – was found in a ditch on the Cairo-Alexandria road. 

Since then, the behaviour of the Egyptian authorities – their apparent reluctance to investigate thoroughly and their eagerness to promote implausible "alternative" explanations for his death – has increased suspicions that Regeni died at the hands of the regime.

At a meeting early in April, Egyptian officials refused to provide Italian investigators with mobile phone records that might point to the real culprits, on the grounds that this is forbidden by the constitution. The constitution (Article 57) actually says a court order is needed before records can be disclosed. Italy responded by recalling its ambassador.

US secretary of state John Kerry later raised the issue during talks with President Sisi and a State Department spokesperson called on Egypt "to ensure that the investigation is conducted in a full and transparent manner and to fully collaborate with the Italian officials". 

At the end of April, though, Italy's foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, was still expressing "dissatisfaction" over Egyptian officials' failure to "cooperate seriously".

Signs of a possible softening in Egypt's position came last week when the authorities handed over the phone records of five individuals (out of 13 originally requested). On Sunday, Italian and Egyptian investigators met in Cairo and the Italians are understood to have been given documents which will be taken back to Italy for translation.

Reuters, citing an unnamed legal source with "direct knowledge" of the investigation, says one of the five phones belongs to Mohammed Abdullah, head of the street vendors' union. Owners of the four other phones have not been publicly identified. 

Italian investigators have so far given no explanation for their interest in Mohammed Abdullah, but since Regeni was researching trade unions in Egypt it is possible he had contact with him. Reuters adds:

"In the aftermath of the 2011 uprising, vendors were often used by police to attack protesters or acted as informers. Some vendors were also targeted by the police for blocking roads."

In another development, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that on March 23 someone accessed Regeni's email account and there are hopes that Google may be able to help identify who did it. Interestingly, March 23 was one day before Egyptian police shot dead five men in a minibus. Items belonging to Regeni were later allegedly found at the home of one of the men's relatives and the authorities then sought to blame them for Regeni's abduction and death. Last week, after interviewing witnesses, the Associated Press questionedthe official account of the shooting. In particular, it found no evidence that the dead men had been armed (as the Egyptian authorities claimed).

In an investigative report last month, Reuters quoted unnamed Egyptian intelligence and police sources as saying that Regeni had initially been detained by police and then transferred to a compound run by Homeland Security on the day he vanished:

Six intelligence and police sources told Reuters that Regeni was picked up by plainclothes police near the Gamal Abdel Nasser metro station in Cairo on the evening of January 25. Security had been heightened that day because it was the anniversary of the beginning of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

An Egyptian man was picked up at the same time. Three sources gave his name but Reuters was unable to verify the man's identity. His connection to Regeni, if any, is unclear.

It is also unclear why the men were picked up, though all the sources said the two had not been specifically targeted but were detained as part of a general security sweep.

One of the intelligence officials said the two men were taken to the Izbakiya police station, a fortress-like compound located beneath a flyover near downtown Cairo. "They were transported in a white minibus with police licence plates," he said.

The three police sources said officers on patrol in the area that night confirmed to them that Regeni had been taken to Izbakiya.

"We were told that an Italian was arrested and he was taken to Izbakiya police station," said one of the police officers, who confirmed the detainee was Regeni.

A senior police official in the Izbakiya station told Reuters that he recalled an Italian being brought in and said he would check the records to confirm the name. He subsequently declined to comment.

"I don't know anything about it," he said. "I checked the books. Regeni's name was not there."

One of the intelligence sources said that Regeni was held at Izbakiya for 30 minutes before he was transferred to Lazoughli, a state security compound run by Egyptian Homeland Security.

The Egyptian interior ministry described this report as unfounded, adding that it reserved the right to take all legal measures against those who "promote such rumours and false news". 

How to deal with adverse media coverage of the Regeni affair was one of the topics covered in a 144-page document produced by the interior ministry which it sent – apparently by accident – to a number of journalists last week. Embarrassingly for the authorities, its contents were then reported in the Egyptian media.

Meanwhile, in what appears to be a diversionary tactic, regime supporters have been highlighting the cases of Egyptians who died or disappeared while abroad.

The first of these was Adel Moawwad, a 53-year-old Egyptian chef whose family reported him missing in Italy last October. Although Italian police have so far failed to trace Moawwad, it's unclear whether any crime has been committed and there is no reason to suppose he has been abducted and tortured.

Last month, 21-year-old Adel Habib, who had both British and Egyptian citizenship, died as a result of a garage fire in Southall, London. A man was later arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.

Also last month, a man named as Mohamed Adel Rushdie and thought to be of Egyptian origin, was found dead near a rubbish bin in the American state of Indiana. He appears to have been murdered. Hinting at comparisons with the Regeni case, Egyptian media have reported that his body showed signs of torture.

At present there is no reason to suppose any of these cases bear comparison with that of Regeni and in normal times they would probably have gone unreported in Egypt. They are being highlighted now to imply that Egyptians are unsafe abroad and to accuse western countries of double standards regarding the Regeni affair.
 
   
Posted by Brian Whitaker
Monday, 9 May 2016