Amanda Knox faced another trial for slander on Wednesday, for wrongly accusing a Congolese man of murdering her roommate. British exchange student Meredith Kercher was found murdered in her room, in a house she shared with Amanda Knox and another.
Knox, who was convicted and later exonerated of the murder, was accused of slandering the bar owner where she worked part-time.
During the initial investigation in 2007, Knox, then a 20-year-old student, accused the bar owner of killing her housemate, Meredith Kercher. The interrogation process was deemed a violation of her rights by the European Court of Human Rights in 2016 due to her lack of lawyer or translator.
Italy’s highest Cassation Court overturned the slander conviction in November, leaving her with no remaining guilty verdicts related to Kercher’s murder.
Knox being tried in absentia
Despite not attending the recent hearing in Florence, Knox is being tried in absentia. She currently resides in the United States, advocating for judicial reform and engaging in various media projects. The trial proceedings involve arguments regarding the admissibility of Knox’s previous statements, which were ruled inadmissible by Italy’s highest court. The case is set to resume on 5th June for further deliberation.
Knox’s original accusation led to the arrest and detention of the bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, for almost two weeks. The slander conviction resulted in a three-year sentence, which Knox served during her nearly four years of detention until being acquitted.
Meredith Kercher’s murder in 2007 led to the conviction of another man, Rudy Guede, who served 13 years in prison before being released. He is currently under investigation for alleged assaults since his release.
