An Italian student who was murdered in Egypt in late January was detained by Egypt's Homeland Security service before his death, according to intelligence sources quoted by Reuters.
Egyptian officials had earlier said Regeni had not been arrested before his death. The 28-year-old doctoral student was found on the side of the road on Feb. 3 after having disappeared on Jan. 25. His corpse bore signs of torture.
#Egypt intelligence/police sources independently tell @Reuters police had custody of #GiulioRegeni before his death https://t.co/oYsl0StEb4
— Lotte Leicht (@LotteLeicht1) April 21, 2016
Egypt has maintained that Regeni's death had been perpetrated by a criminal gang, and even claimed to have killed four members of the gang near Cairo at an apartment where Regeni's passport was apparently found.
6 diff sources confirm #Regeni was in police custody before he died https://t.co/jFsuUM3azP #egypt #italy
— Sima Diab (@SimaDiab) April 21, 2016
Reuters reported that Regeni was arrested by Egyptian police on Jan. 25 and later transferred to a compound run by Egypt's Homeland Security agency.
Regeni had been researching labor rights in Egypt before he was killed. An autopsy performed in Rome found that the student had died of a broken neck.
--HS
