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| Giulio Regeni: Italian energy firm backs Egyptian inquiry into researcher's death | Giulio Regeni: Italian energy firm backs Egyptian inquiry into researcher's death |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Italian government-backed energy giant Eni has expressed confidence in Egyptian investigators who are examining the torture and murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, in response to a call by Amnesty International for the company to put pressure on Egyptian authorities. | |
| In a letter to Amnesty dated 12 February, Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive, said information he had received through informal contacts in Cairo showed that “competent authorities are putting in maximum effort to try to find answers” to Regeni’s murder. | In a letter to Amnesty dated 12 February, Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive, said information he had received through informal contacts in Cairo showed that “competent authorities are putting in maximum effort to try to find answers” to Regeni’s murder. |
| Most experts believe that the murder in Cairo of the Italian researcher, who was pursuing a PhD at Cambridge and was last seen alive on 25 January, bears the hallmarks of Egypt’s notorious secret police, who have been linked to the murder of hundreds of Egyptians. Regeni’s battered body was found in a ditch with signs that he had been tortured, more than a week after he went missing. | Most experts believe that the murder in Cairo of the Italian researcher, who was pursuing a PhD at Cambridge and was last seen alive on 25 January, bears the hallmarks of Egypt’s notorious secret police, who have been linked to the murder of hundreds of Egyptians. Regeni’s battered body was found in a ditch with signs that he had been tortured, more than a week after he went missing. |
| While Italian authorities appear to be growing impatient with the slow investigation in Egypt, the exchange between Descalizi and Amnesty underlines that Italy does not – so far – appear willing to publicly use its corporate relationships to put pressure on Egypt. | |
| Egypt is a critical component of Eni’s business. The letter was written weeks before Eni announced that the Egyptian ministry of petroleum had approved leases that opened the door to the development of a massive Egyptian gas field discovered by Eni last year and seen as transformative for the country. | |
| In its decision to target Eni’s chief executive, Amnesty was clearly aware of Descalzi’s access to the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The two met last November to review Eni’s significant assets in Egypt, as well as the prospects of a gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean. Descalzi and Sisi also met last August and October, according to Eni. | |
| A clear split has emerged in recent weeks between Egyptian and Italian authorities. Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has said he would reject being fed “convenient truths” by Egyptians. Last week the Egyptian interior ministry said it believed “criminal activity or the desire for revenge due to personal reasons, especially as the Italian had many relationships with people near where he lives and where he studied,” could be blamed for the murder. | |
| “What happened to the young researcher has touched me a lot and hurt all of us at Eni,” Descalzi wrote in his letter. “It is clear that our company doesn’t have any title to have an active role in the investigation.” | “What happened to the young researcher has touched me a lot and hurt all of us at Eni,” Descalzi wrote in his letter. “It is clear that our company doesn’t have any title to have an active role in the investigation.” |
| He added that investigative and diplomatic channels were “in charge” and that Eni did not have an active role. | He added that investigative and diplomatic channels were “in charge” and that Eni did not have an active role. |
| “For this reason it is difficult to imagine the possible contribution Eni could have in this investigation,” he added. “We trust in the work that the two governments are undertaking and we can only hope that the questions will be clarified.” | “For this reason it is difficult to imagine the possible contribution Eni could have in this investigation,” he added. “We trust in the work that the two governments are undertaking and we can only hope that the questions will be clarified.” |
| New reports on Tuesday point to growing evidence that the security service was involved in Regeni’s death. Two prosecution sources told Reuters that an Egyptian forensic official had told the public prosecutor’s office that the autopsy he conducted on Regeni showed he was interrogated for up to seven days before he was killed. | |
| “Abdel Hamid [the director of the department of forensic medicine] said during the questioning that the wounds on the body occurred over different intervals of between 10-14 hours. That means that whoever is accused of killing him was interrogating him for information,” an investigator in the public prosecutor’s office in Cairo said. | “Abdel Hamid [the director of the department of forensic medicine] said during the questioning that the wounds on the body occurred over different intervals of between 10-14 hours. That means that whoever is accused of killing him was interrogating him for information,” an investigator in the public prosecutor’s office in Cairo said. |