Image source, REUTERS/Peter Kramer/NBC/handout via Reuters
- Author, Rachel Looker
- Role, BBC News, Washington
Amanda Knox said she was “tired” and felt “victim-blamed” after a Florence court convicted her again of slander in a case linked to the 2007 murder of her British roommate.
Wednesday’s verdict comes years after Ms Knox was acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher. Both Ms. Knox and Ms. Kercher were exchange students living in Perugia.
On Thursday, she called the new defamation conviction a “huge step backwards” on her podcast, Labyrinths with Amanda Knox.
“I feel very determined to continue to fight this. I feel confused about this result because I thought it was a very simple procedure,” she said.
Knox, 36, will not go to prison because she has already served four years for the murder, for which she was originally convicted.
During the murder case, Ms Knox was found guilty of defamation for blaming the murder during a police interview on local bar owner Patrick Lumumba.
Mr Lumumba was arrested in connection with the murder. He spent two weeks behind bars, but was later released without charge after a client gave him an alibi.
This week’s hearing was held behind closed doors and audio and video recordings were prohibited.
Image source, CLAUDIO GIOVANNINI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Ms Knox claims she was “psychologically tortured” by police and did not “knowingly or witness” accuse an innocent man of Kercher’s murder. She says she tried to retract her statement to the police, but they wouldn’t listen to her.
“I really thought this essay would shine a light on this fact because it has been largely overlooked,” she said during the podcast.
Ms. Knox, now an advocate for criminal justice reform, described feeling “victim-blamed” and “tired” on the podcast.
“Here I am 17 years later with an open wound that I thought was going to be healed this time,” she said.
Knox’s lawyers also said they plan to appeal the latest verdict.
“If the right thing happens, I will be acquitted. It’s just going to take longer now,” she said, adding that she plans to fight.
“What is happening to me is not good. This has been a mistake from the start. It’s been 17 years and I’m tired but I’m not going to stop until it’s true.”