Italian Court Sentences Three Egyptian Agents Over Brutal Murder of Student Giulio Regeni

An Italian court has convicted three Egyptian security officials for their involvement in the kidnapping of student Giulio Regeni, who was subsequently found dead. Presided over by Judge Paola Roja in Rome, Italy, on September 28, 2026, the court sentenced the men to 10 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping on Monday, while a fourth defendant was acquitted.

The defendants were tried in absentia and remain unlikely to face extradition due to strained diplomatic relations between Italy and Egypt stemming from the case. Rome Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi told reporters, “We achieved this result despite what can be described as less than wholehearted cooperation from the Egyptian authorities.”

Giulio Regeni, a postgraduate student at the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge, vanished in the Egyptian capital in January 2016. His body was later discovered alongside a road bearing broken teeth, cigarette burns, and broken bones. A post-mortem examination confirmed he had suffered severe torture, with human rights activists noting the injuries matched those inflicted within Egyptian security agency facilities.

Egypt has consistently denied any involvement in his death. The four accused individuals—Major Magdi Sharif from General Intelligence, police Colonel Hisham Helmy, Colonel Ather Kamal (former head of investigations in Cairo), and former head of state security Major General Tarek Sabir (who was acquitted)—never responded to the allegations. On Monday, the judge also dismissed the charge of “conspiracy to commit aggravated murder” leveled against Major Magdi Sharif.

Initially, Egyptian and Italian prosecutors conducted joint investigations. However, Egypt later claimed that a criminal gang was responsible for the murder and that the suspects had died in a police shootout, subsequently maintaining that the killers remain unknown. Conversely, Italian investigators stated that Egyptian security officials abducted and tortured Giulio Regeni because of his academic research into trade unions among street vendors in Cairo. Italy accused Egypt of obstructing the investigation and withholding the whereabouts of the accused.

Under Italian legislation, crimes committed abroad against Italian citizens can be prosecuted domestically. Although an earlier trial was suspended in 2021 over legal legitimacy concerns regarding whether the defendants were properly notified, Italy’s top court dismissed that decision in 2023, ruling that the trial must proceed despite Egypt's lack of cooperation. Egypt has denied refusing to cooperate with Italian officials.