Amanda Knox said she is “tired” and feels “victim blamed” after a Florence court re-convicted her for slander in a case connected to the 2007 murder of her British roommate.
The verdict on Wednesday comes years after Ms Knox was acquitted of killing Meredith Kercher. Ms Knox and Ms Kercher were both exchange students living in Perugia.
On Thursday, she called the re-conviction for slander a “huge step backwards” on her podcast, Labyrinths with Amanda Knox.
“I’m feeling very determined to keep fighting this. I’m feeling confused by this outcome because I thought this was a very straightforward proceeding,” she said.
Knox, 36, will not go to prison because she previously served four years for the murder, for which she was convicted originally.
During the murder case, Ms Knox was convicted of slander for blaming the murder during police interrogation 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 customer gave him an alibi.
Ms Knox’s conviction on the slander charge was quashed last year and a retrial ordered.
The hearing this week was held behind closed doors, and audio and video recording was prohibited.
Ms Knox claims she was “psychologically tortured” by police and did not “knowingly or wittingly” accuse an innocent man of Kercher’s murder. She says she attempted to recant to police, but they wouldn’t listen.
“I really thought that this trial would bring that fact into focus because it’s been greatly overlooked,” she said during the podcast.
Ms Knox, now a criminal justice reform advocate, described feeling “victim blamed” and “tired” on the podcast.
“I’m just sitting here 17 years later with an open wound that I thought was going to be healed this time around,” she said.
Knox’s lawyers also have said they expect to appeal against the latest verdict.
“If the right thing happens, I will be acquitted of this. It’s just going to take more time now,” she said, adding that she plans to fight.
“What is happening to me is wrong. It’s been wrong from the very start. It’s been 17 years and I’m tired but I’m not going to stop until it’s right.”
Source Agencies
