Egypt has banned four key prosecution
witnesses from answering a summons to the Rome trial in absentia
of four Egyptian intelligence officers charged with torturing to
death Italian student Giulio Regeni in January-February 2016,
judicial sources said Wednesday.
The Farnesina, Italy's foreign ministry, has transmitted to the
prosecutors in Rome a note from the Egyptian General
Prosecutor's Office stating that it is "impossible to execute
requests for judicial assistance" to have the four Egyptian
witnesses heard in Wednesday's hearing.
They include trade unionist Said Abdallah, who allegedly
fingered Regeni as a spy; the coordinator of a centre for
economic and social rights, Hoda Kamel Hussein; and Rabab
Ai-Mahdi, Regeni's tutor in Cairo.
In light of this, the Deputy Prosecutor, Sergio Colaiocco, asked
the Assize Court to be able to acquire the testimonies of the
absent witnesses gathered during the investigation.
"We are in the presence of witnesses who have not freely chosen
not to be here. We have tried everything to bring the witnesses
here," said the prosecutor.
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