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CRIME

Egypt forms team to keep probing Italian’s murder

Egypt's state prosecutor ordered on Wednesday the formation of an investigating team to probe the brutal murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, after Rome cast doubt on Cairo's explanation of his death.

Published: 31 March 2016 08:21 CEST
Egypt forms team to keep probing Italian's murder
People hold an Italian flag with photos of Giulio Regeni, who was found dead bearing signs of torture after disappearing in Cairo in January. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Regeni, 28, disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his mutilated body was found nine days later on the outskirts of the capital.

Last week, the Egyptian police said they had identified a criminal gang linked to his murder, after killing four members and finding the PhD student's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

Four people have been detained in relation to Regeni's murder, including the wife and a sister of the alleged leader of the gang.

The other two are the brother and brother-in-law of the gang leader, who was killed in a shoot-out with police along with three other criminals.

Rome has dismissed Cairo's explanations that the gang members, who allegedly posed as police to extort foreigners and Egyptians, were behind Regeni's death.

On Wednesday, Egypt's general prosecutor ordered a team to be set up to probe the student's murder.

“Given that the clues in the case of Giulio Regeni's killing were found in many different areas … the general prosecutor ordered the formation of an investigative team from his office to continue the investigation,” a statement from the prosecutor's office said.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Sunday that Egypt agreed to extend the investigation after pressure from Rome.

Italian media and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo have voiced suspicions that Egyptian security services were behind the murder.

Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name.

His death has threatened to hit Egypt's already struggling tourism sector, which has seen falling visitor numbers since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Tourism, a cornerstone of the economy, was dealt a body blow after the October 31st bombing of a Russian airliner, claimed by the Islamic State group, that killed all 224 people on board.

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CRIME

‘Serious design flaw’: Ex-official says risk of Genoa bridge collapse was known

A former director of the group with ultimate responsibility for Italy's Genoa bridge has said it knew of the dangers eight years before the highway collapsed in 2018, killing 43 people.

Published: 23 May 2023 13:26 CEST
‘Serious design flaw’: Ex-official says risk of Genoa bridge collapse was known

In 2010 Gianni Mion was managing director of the Benetton family’s holding group, Edizione, which owned Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi), the company paid by the state to manage the Morandi bridge.

“In a meeting between managers and executives, doubts arose about whether the Morandi bridge could remain standing, due to a serious design flaw,” Mion told a court in Genoa on Monday at a trial hearing.

READ ALSO: Genoa bridge collapse: 59 people to stand trial over disaster as operator settles

“I asked if there was a third party that certified the stability of the viaduct. They told me that we self-certified it. That answer terrified me,” he said, according to Italian news agency reports.

“Nobody thought, though, that it would collapse and we were reassured on that point. I didn’t say anything but I was worried. I didn’t do anything and that’s my big regret,” Mion was quoted as saying.

Nearly 60 defendants went on trial in Genoa in July last year, accused of manslaughter and undermining transport safety over the collapse of the bridge in the northwest Italian city.

The Morandi bridge gave way in torrential rain on August 14, 2018, sending dozens of vehicles and their passengers tumbling into the abyss.

Egle Possetti, who heads a committee of victims’ relatives, said it was “unacceptable” for someone of Mion’s position to have remained silent.

Egle Possetti (C), at the first hearing of the Morandi bridge collapse trial on 7 July, 2022.

Egle Possetti (C), at the first hearing of the Morandi bridge collapse trial on 7 July, 2022. Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP.

Those on trial include the general manager of Autostrade at the time, Giovanni Castellucci, and Antonino Galata, the former head of Spea, the engineering company in charge of maintenance.

Roberto Tomasi, who took over as general manager of Autostrade in 2019, told the court on Monday that “the level of network degradation was substantially worse than Spea’s inspections stated”.

READ ALSO: ‘The sadness is unending’: Italian families’ pain still raw ahead of Genoa bridge trial

He said Spea was not considered to be “reliable” and “the behaviour of some of its employees was unacceptable”.

Even though their former directors are on trial, Autostrade and Spea will escape the courts, thanks to an out-of-court settlement with the public prosecutor’s office, which provides for a payment of 29 million euros ($30 million) to the state.

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