Government reverses course on Regeni compensation, will wait for final judgment
The Italian government will request compensation for the kidnapping and murder of Giulio Regeni only after the sentence becomes final, Minister for European Affairs Tommaso Foti confirmed. The statement came less than thirty minutes after Foti had initially suggested the state would act sooner — once the Rome court's judgment is deposited, within 90 days.
The reversal signals a cautious approach from the Meloni administration toward Egypt, balancing the demand for justice against strategic ties with Cairo.
What the court ordered
On 28 September 2026, the Corte d'Assise di Roma convicted three Egyptian security officers for the kidnapping of the Friulian researcher, while acquitting a fourth. The court did not convict for murder, as prosecutors had requested.
The judges awarded immediate provisional payments: €200,000 each to Regeni's parents, €100,000 to his sister Irene, and €150,000 to the Italian Prime Minister's Office, which had joined the case as a civil plaintiff. The three officers were also ordered to pay additional damages to be determined in separate civil proceedings.
Foti stressed that Italy's participation in the trial mattered. "The Italian state's involvement in the proceedings was important, the Italian government was there," he said. But on enforcement, he corrected himself: "We will request execution once the sentence has become final."
Why the delay matters
Under Italian law, a sentence becomes final only after all appeals, including the Corte di Cassazione, are exhausted. The motivations for the first-instance ruling must be deposited within 90 days, after which parties have 45 days to appeal.
The government's hesitation reflects the web of relations between Rome and Cairo. Egypt is a strategic partner for Italy in energy, trade, and migration control. Eni has invested over $12 billion in Egypt's Zohr gas field since 2015, making the country central to Italian energy security. Bilateral trade reached nearly €7 billion in 2022.
Two Italian citizens also face legal trouble in Egypt: 27-year-old Nessy Guerra, sentenced to six months for adultery with a hearing set for 7 October, and 32-year-old Giacomo Passeri, sentenced to 25 years for international drug trafficking.
Denials and diplomatic signals
Prime Minister's Office sources at Palazzo Chigi denied a report from the independent Egyptian website Mada Masr, which had claimed high-level contact between Italian and Egyptian officials before the verdict to find a legal solution aligned with bilateral relations. The sources called the report false, noting that the last contact between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was on 23 July for Egypt's national day.
An anonymous Egyptian diplomatic source told the newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat that Cairo remains outside the Regeni case, did not follow the trial, and "will not react." The source noted that the sentence convicted individuals, not government institutions, and excluded the murder charge, which "contradicts any accusation of torture."
Opposition demands immediate action
Opposition leaders accused the government of ducking its responsibilities.
Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein noted that part of the sentence is immediately enforceable, calling on the prime minister to "take every immediate diplomatic initiative" to ensure an Italian judge's ruling is respected.
Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the state must facilitate payment: "The government cannot hide, it can and must act."
Five Star Movement floor leader Riccardo Ricciardi attacked Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani directly: "It is shameful that a minister, faced with all this, waits for the second and third degree of judgment."
Iv-Casa Riformista vice-president Davide Faraone added: "Every time Tajani opens his mouth, Italy makes a fool of itself nationally and internationally."
Defense lawyers plan appeal
The court-appointed lawyers for the three convicted Egyptian officers, who represented defendants deemed absent through no fault of their own, announced they will appeal to the Court of Appeal. Attorney Tranquillino Sarno said they are also considering raising another constitutional question regarding the requirement for a specific power of attorney in proceedings where a defendant is declared absent due to the conduct of third parties.
