A Rome judge has halted the trial of four high-ranking members of Egypt’s security forces on the day it began.

ROME – A prominent Italian journalist has returned his Legion of Honor to the French Embassy to protest the awarding of the prize to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during his protest-marred visit to Paris last week. El-Sissi’s state visit sparked protests by human rights activists incensed that French President Emmanuel Macron had rolled out the red carpet while el-Sissi presides over the heaviest crackdown on dissent in Egypt’s modern history. The award ceremony was held without the press before a Sept. 7 dinner at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris. “France is on the front lines for human rights and makes no compromises,” he tweeted after Augias returned his prize. During the visit, France and Egypt signed contracts for French development aid and hospital and transport cooperation.

Italian prosecutors on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 formally put three high-ranking members of Egypts national security force and one police officer under investigation in the 2016 kidnapping, torture and killing of an Italian youth doing doctoral research in Cairo. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)ROME – Italian prosecutors on Thursday formally put three high-ranking members of Egypt’s national security force and one police officer under investigation in the 2016 kidnapping, torture and killing of an Italian youth doing doctoral research in Cairo. The investigation against another member of Egypt’s national security force was shelved for insufficient proof, he told lawmakers. The torture marks resembled those resulting from widespread torture practices in Egyptian facilities, activists and rights groups have said. In late November, Egyptian prosecutors slammed the Italian investigators in their push to bring five police and intelligence officers to trial.