Egypt's foreign ministry said its envoy in Berlin received on Thursday an official letter from the German foreign ministry stating that an Egyptian national who died in a hospital in Germany's Essen on 22 June had attempted suicide six days earlier.
A statement by Egypt's foreign ministry said that German authorities have opened a criminal investigation to determine the reasons behind the death of 22-year-old Mohamed Abdel-Fattah.
Cairo had earlier demanded a swift probe be carried out by German authorities into the incident, saying that its envoy in Berlin requested "official clarification" on the incident following reports by local media that Abdel-Fattah was tortured to death in police custody.
The statement added that according to the German foreign ministry, initial investigations showed that the death of the Egyptian national did not result from criminal wrongdoing.
The statement comes one day after the German embassy in Cairo said that there was no evidence that the death of Abdel-Fattah was a result of a criminal act according to ongoing investigations conducted by the German prosecutor-general.
The statement by the German embassy did not specify whether Abdel-Fattah was in custody when he attempted suicide or at the time of his death, saying only that he died in a hospital in Essen.
Abdel-Fattah's family claims that their son was tortured to death by German police, and that Egyptian authorities were not informed of his arrest.
According to Egypt's consulate in Frankfurt, local German authorities said that Abdel-Fattah had previously been stopped by local police, though they did not provide dates.
