Italian court convicts three Egyptian agents for Regeni kidnapping

September 29, 2026 at 12:45 AM2 min

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An Italian court convicted three Egyptian security officials in absentia for the 2016 kidnapping of Italian student Giulio Regeni, sentencing them to 10 years in prison. A fourth defendant was acquitted. The verdict came despite what Rome's chief prosecutor called less than wholehearted cooperation from Egyptian authorities.

Key Facts

Three Egyptian security officials were sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping of Giulio Regeni.
A fourth defendant, former head of state security Major General Tarek Sabir, was acquitted.
Regeni, a University of Cambridge postgraduate student, disappeared in Cairo in January 2016 and was found dead with signs of torture.
The judge dismissed the accusation of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder against Major Magdi Sharif.
Egypt has denied involvement in Regeni's death and maintains his killers are unknown.

The Verdict

An Italian court convicted three Egyptian security officials in absentia for the kidnapping of Giulio Regeni. The men were sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping, while a fourth defendant was acquitted. The convicted officials are Major Magdi Sharif from General Intelligence, police Colonel Hisham Helmy, and Colonel Ather Kamal, a former head of investigations in Cairo. The judge dismissed the accusation of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder against Sharif.

Regeni's Death and Investigation

Regeni, a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, disappeared in Cairo in January 2016. His body was found on the side of a road with broken teeth, cigarette burns, and broken bones; a post-mortem determined he had been tortured. Italian prosecutors said Egyptian security officials kidnapped and tortured Regeni because of his academic research into trade unions among street vendors in Cairo. Egypt has denied any involvement in his death and has maintained that Regeni's killers are unknown.

Italy-Egypt Relations

The men were tried in absentia and are unlikely to face extradition given strained relations between Italy and Egypt. Rome Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said the result was achieved despite less than wholehearted cooperation from Egyptian authorities. Italian legislation allows prosecution of crimes committed abroad against Italian citizens, but an earlier trial was suspended in 2021 after the judge questioned its legitimacy.