In the case of Amanda Knox, who was finally acquitted of the murder of British exchange student defamation/” title=”Amanda Knox was sentenced to three years for defamation”>Meredith Kercher in 2015, a new trial began today at an appeal court in Florence. This concerns the accusation of defamation against Knox. The trial is based on a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The ECHR had found a violation of Knox’s rights of defense to be proven.
Knox is demanding acquittal on the libel charge, which is why she was sentenced to three years in prison. However, the American was not present today, as Italian media reported.
The case caused a worldwide sensation
Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were accused of killing British student Kercher, whose body was discovered in her bedroom in the central Italian city of Perugia in late 2007.
The case attracted worldwide attention. Sollecito and Knox were sentenced to long prison terms in 2009, but were then acquitted in 2011. Knox returned to the United States. The case went through further instances, both were convicted again, but the Italian Supreme Court finally acquitted them in March 2015.
Three years in prison for defamation
However, the American was sentenced to three years in prison for defamation. With the new trial in Florence she wants to prove her innocence. When questioned after her arrest following the murder, Knox accused a Congolese barman Patrick Lumumba, who worked in Perugia and whom she knew, of the murder.
The American had already served her three-year prison sentence for defamation, taking into account her pre-trial detention. She returned to the USA in 2011 after a total of four years in custody.