Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni's disappearance in Egypt as his murder is still officially a mystery that affected the Egyptian-Italian relations.
The Italians and Regeni's family commemorated the sad anniversary with protests demanding the truth in the murder of that 28-years student in several Italian cities as well cities around the globe.
In Cairo, things were different as we suddenly found the Egyptian State TV broadcasting last Monday an alleged "exclusive" video clip showing late Regeni speaking Arabic in January 2016 with someone.
The video was aired suddenly in less than 24 hours after Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek approved a request from Rome to allow Italian experts to take part in the retrieval of CCTV footage showing Regeni before his disappearance on 25 January 2016.
Regeni's dead body resurfaced later on 3 February with horrifying traces of torture. His death is still mystery as the Egyptian security authorities deny involvement from any kind in his disappearance of murder.
The 3.46 minutes clip was aired at about 10 AM Cairo Local Time showing Regeni speaking with a man, reportedly the head of West Cairo street vendors union Mohamed Abdullah.
Mohamed Abdullah is the man who reported Giulio Regeni to Egyptian security authority on suspicion that he were a spy. According to the official Egyptian security's version of the story, the security authorities followed Regeni for 3 days and then suspended the operation.
In the video, Abdullah asked for money personally to save "his daughter and wife" as Regeni was speaking about a grant presented by some British Foundation to the Street vendors Union.
"It is not my money, I am an academic and I can not submit an application to the British foundation saying that I want the money for personal reasons," Regeni told Abdullah.
In the video clip, Regeni tells the Unionists how the money comes from the British foundation to the "Egyptian Center". It is unclear which center he was speaking about in the video.
Abdullah again raises again the matter of money asking how to get it and Regeni says that "the matter is not in his hand" and there were proposals from all over the world including Egypt submitted to get the LE 10,000 grant in March. The proposal is actually how the Union was going to use the grant.
This is what was shown and said in the edited video in nutshell.
It is unclear in what context the Egyptian State TV aired that leaked video.
The Italians and Regeni's family commemorated the sad anniversary with protests demanding the truth in the murder of that 28-years student in several Italian cities as well cities around the globe.
In Cairo, things were different as we suddenly found the Egyptian State TV broadcasting last Monday an alleged "exclusive" video clip showing late Regeni speaking Arabic in January 2016 with someone.
The video was aired suddenly in less than 24 hours after Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek approved a request from Rome to allow Italian experts to take part in the retrieval of CCTV footage showing Regeni before his disappearance on 25 January 2016.
Regeni's dead body resurfaced later on 3 February with horrifying traces of torture. His death is still mystery as the Egyptian security authorities deny involvement from any kind in his disappearance of murder.
The 3.46 minutes clip was aired at about 10 AM Cairo Local Time showing Regeni speaking with a man, reportedly the head of West Cairo street vendors union Mohamed Abdullah.
An enhanced screen capture from the video |
In the video, Abdullah asked for money personally to save "his daughter and wife" as Regeni was speaking about a grant presented by some British Foundation to the Street vendors Union.
"It is not my money, I am an academic and I can not submit an application to the British foundation saying that I want the money for personal reasons," Regeni told Abdullah.
In the video clip, Regeni tells the Unionists how the money comes from the British foundation to the "Egyptian Center". It is unclear which center he was speaking about in the video.
Abdullah again raises again the matter of money asking how to get it and Regeni says that "the matter is not in his hand" and there were proposals from all over the world including Egypt submitted to get the LE 10,000 grant in March. The proposal is actually how the Union was going to use the grant.
This is what was shown and said in the edited video in nutshell.
It is unclear in what context the Egyptian State TV aired that leaked video.