Premier's office stands as civil plaintiff in Regeni trial

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 4 - A Rome judge on Monday accepted the premier's office's request to be admitted as a civil plaintiff in the criminal case against four Egyptian security officers for the torture and homicide of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in early 2016.
    The preliminary hearings judge is set to decide whether accept a prosecutor's request for the four to be indicted in their absence.
    On September 27 the Constitutional Court ended a stalemate on the trial, ruling that it could proceed even though the officers have not been informed of the proceedings against them, as Cairo has refused to cooperate on the case.
    Regeni, a 28-year-old Friuli born Cambridge University doctoral researcher into Cairo street seller unions, was tortured to death in Egypt between January 25 and February 3 2016.
    His work on Egyptian trade unions was politically sensitive and his body was so badly mutilated his mother only recognised him by the tip of his nose.
    Efforts to notify the four officers - National Security General Tariq Sabir and his subordinates, Colonels Athar Kamel Mohamed Ibrahim and Uhsam Helmi, and Major Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif - have been unsuccessful since Egypt has not cooperated by handing over their contact details and legal abodes. (ANSA).