Press Association/AP/Amr Nabil. All rights reserved.Several articles in the Italian press – by journalists and others with no experience or knowledge of research in the Middle East – have suggested that Giulio Regeni’s supervisors bear responsibility for sending him into a dangerous situation, alleging that they knew that it would put his life at risk. These are preposterous claims and those who make them are both irresponsible and despicable.
They are irresponsible because one does not make such a serious accusation – of having deliberately sent someone to death – without having full knowledge of the situation and holding irrefutable proofs. And even if you believe that you hold such proofs – if you are not part of a lynch mob, but a person who respects the basic tenet of justice under the rule of law according to which everyone is innocent until proven guilty – you raise questions instead of making straightforward accusations, as long as guilt has not been officially established.
The accusers are despicable as well because they lack a sense of human empathy. They don’t take into account the feelings of supervisors confronted with the massive tragedy of the loss of their student, a person whom they have known well and with whom they have had long hours of exchanges over several years. Instead, they accuse the supervisors of bearing responsibility for the murder. In doing so, they act like journalists who publicly accuse parents of being responsible for the death of their child when they have no real clue about it and no guilt has been established in any way.
