Egypt’s Summoned Several Western Ambassadors , What For?

Egypt summoned several western ambassadors in protest against a statement criticizing the country’s detention of a human rights lawyer who was helping investigate the case of a murdered Giulio Regeni, the Italian student, according to Reuters.

Egypt’s foreign ministry stated that the statement from the five countries represented a “blatant and unacceptable interference in domestic affairs and the work of the judiciary.

The ministry said, “It is unfortunate that such a statement would be issued from countries that call for respecting rule of law and the principles of separation of powers.”

On Friday, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and Canada issued a statement late critical of the detention of Ibrahim Metwaly, who was helping investigate the murder of the Italian student.

Giulio Regeni, the Ph.D. student who was doing postgraduate research into Egyptian trade unions, disappeared on the fifth anniversary of January Revolution.

The Cambridge University student’s body was found brutally tortured in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, on February 3, 2016.

His mother said that she could only recognize him by his nose.

Torture found on Regeni’s body showed the signs of Egypt’s security forces which are known for using violence against detainees to gain information and confessions.

The Egyptian authorities have narrated several stories about the Italian student murder.

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said the German, Dutch and Italian ambassadors had been summoned and that procedures to summon the British and Canadian ambassadors were ongoing.

The right’s lawyer founded the Association of the Families of the Disappeared after his son disappeared four years ago.

Metwaly was taken by airport security in September while heading to Geneva to attend a U.N. conference on enforced disappearances, members of his group said.

They later said a state prosecutor had ordered his detention.

Judicial sources said that Metwaly was detained on charges of spreading false news and joining an illegal group, and that his pre-trial detention was in accordance with the law.

Rights activists said that the “Egyptian authorities kidnap dissent and keep them in secret jails without charges. Egypt denies the accusations,”as reported by Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-malaysia-kim-court/airport-video-shows-north-korean-embassy-official-with-kim-jong-nam-murder-suspects-idUSKBN1D60W9

http://www.dw.com/en/egypt-summons-germanys-ambassador-over-unacceptable-statement/a-41247674