Al Araby TV’s Regeni investigative documentary named among Arab world’s best

The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) has chosen a documentary by The New Arab’s sister TV channel Al Araby TV, among its best investigative stories from 2021.

The documentary, which aired in April 2021, covered the 2016 killing of Italian student Guilio Regeni in Egypt.

The organisation provides support to investigative journalists around the world, with special attention to those from marginalized communities or operating under repressive regimes.

Al Araby TV gained access to two witnesses who attested that Regeni was detained, interrogated and tortured by Egyptian military personnel.

Regeni, who was studying for a Ph.D. at Cambridge University, was conducting research on Egyptian independent trade unions. His body was found in a ditch alongside the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway on the outskirts of Cairo on 3 February 2016. 

Al-Araby TV spoke with two witnesses, and the investigation found that Regeni was seen at the Egyptian military intelligence headquarters and awaited investigation in an Egyptian prison between 28 and 29 January.

One of the witnesses said that they first saw Regeni in prison, where he was interrogated and tortured. The second disclosed further details of his abuse and torture.

Al-Araby TV also spoke to the Regeni family lawyer and carried out investigations revealing details of Regeni’s suspected torturers and locations, before he was last seen.

The team also presented evidence which helped Italian prosecutors identify two Egyptian officers suspected of involvement in Regeni's death, which lead them to include the pair in an indictment along with four others.

The trial of the officers in absentia began in October 2021.

Regeni’s parents previously said the new witnesses that arose as part of the Al-Araby TV investigation proved to be crucial in ongoing efforts to reach justice.