Giulio Regeni: Italy braces for key court ruling in murder case

A judge in Rome is set to decide whether four agents of Egypt’s National Security Agency (NSA) should face trial for the abduction, torture and murder of Giulio Regeni, an Italian student who was found dead on the outskirts of Cairo five years ago.

Regeni, a 28-year-old doctoral student researching trade unions in Egypt, disappeared in Cairo on January 25, 2016.

His body was found on the side of a highway nine days later, bearing extensive signs of torture.

The murder shocked Italy and led to calls to bring the perpetrators to justice, with prosecutors accusing Egyptian authorities of failing to collaborate.

The prosecutors’ investigation concluded in December; they claimed to have found “unequivocal” proof to support pressing charges for kidnapping against General Tariq Sabir, Colonel Usham Helmi, Colonel Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim and Major Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif.

Sharif is also being investigated for injury and murder.