Italy’s president said Monday that he is expecting a response from Egypt and solidarity from the EU over the unsolved 2016 murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo. 

Sergio Mattarella said in his message on the fifth anniversary of Regeni’s disappearance that a picture of who was responsible for the crime emerged after an investigation by Italian prosecutors.

"We expect a full and sufficient response from the Egyptian authorities, as our diplomacy has relentlessly urged."

Pointing out the importance of the EU's interest in the case, Mattarella said he hopes to see the EU’s commitment to a convergent solidarity "in order to reach the truth and bring those involved in this crime to justice."

Italian prosecutors requested last Wednesday that four Egyptian officials be tried for the murder in Egypt.

Regeni, a 28-year-old doctoral student studying in Egypt, vanished on Jan. 25, 2016, the fifth anniversary of a popular uprising that forced then-President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power. Nine days later, his body was found on a highway.

Egyptian authorities deny any involvement in Regeni’s death, but observers noted that signs of torture on his body were uncannily similar to those caused from torture by Egyptian police./aa