A historic first verdict after more than ten years, but for Giulio Regeni and his family, the road to justice is still long, and the road to truth is extremely long. The Rome Court of Assizes on Monday sentenced three Egyptian security agents—Magdi Ibrahim Abdelal Sharif, Uhsam Helmi, and Athar Kamel Mohamed—to ten years for the kidnapping of the Friulian researcher, while the fourth defendant, General Tariq Sabir, was acquitted. The murder charge against Sharif, however, was dropped. This is a significant ruling from a judicial perspective, but it does not close the case: the three convicted were tried in absentia, are in Egypt, and Cairo has never handed them over to Italian justice.
So what happens now? The public defenders of the three convicted defendants have already announced their intention to appeal the sentence. First, the reasons for the appeal must be filed, expected between the end of December and the beginning of January, after which the lawyers will have approximately thirty days to file their appeal. The defense could also request a new ruling from the Constitutional Court regarding the possibility of appealing a sentence when the defendants are absent and have not granted special power of attorney to their lawyers. This step could further extend the appeal process. According to forecasts, any appeal proceedings may not begin for another two years. The statute of limitations also weighs heavily: for kidnapping, the ordinary statute of limitations would expire in 2028, although suspensions accrued during the proceedings would extend the deadline, potentially to 2030. The Rome Prosecutor's Office will also have to decide whether to appeal the sentence. The magistrates called the verdict a historic result, but are awaiting the reasons for the kidnapping convictions and the acquittal of the fourth defendant and, above all, to determine whether there are grounds for requesting a new trial.
