The Italian government is determined to do what it takes to "obtain the truth" over research student Giulio Regeni's 2016 abduction and murder in Egypt, prime minister Giuseppe Conte vowed on Friday.
"The government will continue to take all necessary steps to obtain the truth," Conte said in video press conference in Brussels on the sidelines of a European Union leaders' summit.
"We will consider any further initiatives that may help achieve this goal of justice for this young man and his family," Conte continued.
Conte lauded Rome prosecutors probing the Regeni case for the "key evidence" they gathered to charge four Egyptian security officials on Thursday over Regeni's kidnapping on 25 January in central Cairo and torturing to death over the following nine days.
Rome prosecutors had worked extremely hard and shown impressive investigative ability in the Regeni case, Conte said.
"There will be wholly Italian trial to establish the truth surrounding a death, which from the latest details has been shown to been caused by brutal, bloody and cruel methods," Conte said.
"It is an important moment," Conte added.
It is not yet know if the four Egyptian security officials will defend themselves at a trial in Italy or if they will be tried in absentia.
Egyptian officials have so far stonewalled Italy’s efforts to investigate, dragging their feet when asked to provide evidence to Rome prosecutors and blaming a criminal gang and enemy political groups for Regeni's death.
Regeni is one of over 1,500 enforced disappearances in Egypt since 2015 in which the state security apparatus has allegedly been involved.
At the time he vanished, Regeni was researching the politically sensitive topic of independent trade unions in Italy.
Regeni's mutilated, almost unrecognisable body was found beside the Cairo-Alexandria highway on 3 February 2016.
Prosecutors dropped charges in the case against a fifth Egyptian security official due to insufficient evidence and said they were seeking information on 13 other individuals amid a lack of cooperation from Egypt.
Egyptian officials have consistently stonewalled Italy’s efforts to investigate, dragging their feet when asked to provide evidence to Rome prosecutors and blaming a 'criminal gang' and enemy political groups for Regeni's death.
At the time of his disappearance, 28-year-old Cambridge PhD student Regeni was researching the politically sensitive topic of independent trade unions in Egypt.
