Pressure continues to mount on the UK government to take part in an investigation into the death of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni.

Cambridge’s MP, Daniel Zeichner, has joined calls for a “credible investigation” into the student’s death in Cairo.

He told Cambridge News: “I will be raising it at Foreign and Commonwealth questions next week.

“I have also written to the Foreign Secretary to push him to urge them to conduct a full investigation.”

On Monday, an emergency motion was passed at CUSU Council calling on CUSU Executive Officers to sign and share the petition, as well as for CUSU to publicise the Students’ Unions’ Advice Service.

The motion also mandated CUSU President Priscilla Mensah to write an open letter to the British Ambassador in Egypt “supporting calls for a full investigation”.

The letter was also signed by JCR and MCR Presidents.

Zeichner confirmed with Varsity that he was not planning to make his previous correspondence with the Foreign Secretary over the matter public, and claimed that he attempted to raise the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions last week.

“There is a profound sense of sadness and shock in Cambridge following his death and the reports of possible torture,” he told us.

“Egypt is a very troubled country at the moment, but I think it is entirely right that when someone from Cambridge is found in such a terrible state, we do all we can to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Meanwhile his predecessor as MP, Julian Huppert, who is currently in a post as a University Lecturer at POLIS, has called for the UK government to take a predominant role in any investigation into Regeni’s death.

Huppert also revealed that he was involved behind the scenes at POLIS when Regeni was first reported missing.

“The brutal murder of Giulio Regeni absolutely must be investigated by the UK government and international bodies, so that we can learn the truth about what happened to him – and sadly to many others – in Egypt,” he told Varsity.

“While this can only provide scant consolation to his friends and family, we can try to ensure that these atrocities do not happen to anyone else.”

The President of Girton College MCR, Camilla Fairbairn, echoed Huppert’s sentiments, telling Varsity that she believed the UK government should play a predominant role in any inquiry.

“We are determined to find out what led to such a barbaric and untimely death. Girton is, with other colleagues in the University, pressing the Egyptian authorities for a full and open investigation into Giulio’s death.

“This, however, should not just be an issue for Cambridge but all higher education institutions in the UK. It is imperative that the UK ensures the safety, to any extent that they can, for academics researching sensitive topics and doing field work abroad, especially where there is political unrest.

“The MCR have been distraught over losing our colleague, and, more importantly, our friend.”

An online petition on the government’s parliament.uk service has so far amassed over 5,600 signatures, over 800 of which come from the Cambridge constituency, an increase of over 3,500 on last week.

It argues: “The UK government has a duty to ensure that a credible investigation of this extrajudicial killing is carried out.”

Mensah stopped short of endorsing Huppert’s calls that the UK government investigate Regeni’s murder itself, alongside international bodies.

A university spokesman also refused to explicitly endorse the specific requests in Huppert’s comments.

“The University has engaged fully with the call for a thorough and complete investigation into this tragic incident with the relevant authorities and has backed the Italian government’s calls for Egypt to do so,” he told Varsity.

However, he revealed that the letters issued in the name of Professor David Runciman, the Head of Department at POLIS, and Professor Susan Smith, Mistress of Girton College, were also drafted on behalf of the university as a whole.

He also confirmed that representatives from the university attended Regeni’s funeral, which was held on Friday 12th February in northern Italy.