Egypt's Foreign Ministry yesterday demanded an open investigation into the death of an Egyptian inmate in an Italian prison last week, Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry ordered the Egyptian Embassy in Rome to track the case of Egyptian citizen Hany El-Sayed, who died in an Italian prison, and to following up with Italian authorities on the results of the investigation.
"The Foreign Ministry ordered the Egyptian Embassy in Rome to open an investigation into the causes of death, what led to the incident and to ensure that Italian authorities communicate the findings as soon as possible," the statement read.
Shoukry also gave orders to the embassy to facilitate the return of El-Sayed's body to Egypt, expressing his condolences to the deceased's family.
Ghada Agamy, Member of Parliament's Foreign Affairs committee, said that Egyptian national Hany El-Sayed, born in 1987, had entered Italy illegally. She added that Italian authorities stated the cause of death as suicide.
El-Sayed was previously sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting a police officer.
There was no immediate comment from the Italian side about the incident or the Egyptian request for an open investigation.
Last month, a visiting Italian delegation which included Italian MPs, politicians and professors, visited Egypt with the hopes of rebooting Egyptian-Italian relations, stalled since the mysterious murder of Italian student and researcher Guilio Regeni in Egypt last year.
Regeni, an Italian Cambridge University PhD candidate, disappeared on January 25, 2016 in central Cairo as police came out in full force in anticipation of protests marking commemorations of the revolution. The 28-year-old young man's body, bearing signs of torture, was later found by the side of a road.
Egypt has forcefully denied that its police was involved in his abduction. Egyptian and Italian detectives are still working on resolving the case; but Rome has not sent an ambassador to Cairo in protest against the lack of progress achieved.
The Italian delegation at the time called on all remaining European countries to end the travel restrictions they had imposed on Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and other Egyptian destinations.
