The family of Elanain Sharif, an
44-year-old Italian-Egyptian, do not currently known where he is
after he was arrested in Cairo on November 9, a lawyer advising
the man's mother said on Thursday.
"The reason for the arrest is not clear," said the lawyer,
Alessandro Russo, in a video interview with the Corriere
dell'Umbria newspaper.
"Apparently it is something to do with Facebook content, but we
do not have the charge".
Sharif was born in Egypt but has Italian citizenship and lives
in the central Italian city of Terni.
Russo said he was with his mother when he was arrested.
"He was stopped by the authorities and held a long time in
offices. Then the mother saw him come out with handcuffs on his
wrists," said Russo.
"Upon his arrival, his Italian passport was seized and the
arrest procedures were done using only the Egyptian one".
The lawyer said Sharif was initially taken to prison in Cairo.
"He was there for a few days, in inhuman conditions," Russo
said.
"He couldn't sleep, he could only lie down for half an hour.
"The mother saw him only once for just a few minutes".
The woman was subsequently told that her son had been
transferred to a prison in Alexandria.
The Italian foreign ministry is following the case closely.
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian Cambridge university
doctoral researcher into Cairo street unions, was allegedly
tortured to death between February 25 and February 3 2016 after
being detained in Egypt.
Four Egyptian intelligence officers are on trial in absentia in
Rome for the homicide.
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