Amanda Knox Responds to Italian Court's Ruling on Slander Conviction

Amanda Knox has publicly criticized an Italian court for what she describes as "gaslighting" following its decision to uphold her slander conviction against Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba. The Florence appellate court released a 35-page document asserting that Knox's handwritten memo was created "spontaneously and freely," and it detailed the slanderous nature of her accusations. Knox, who was exonerated in 2015 after a tumultuous legal battle surrounding the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, maintains that her accusations against Lumumba were made under extreme police duress. In a series of tweets, Knox recounted her experience of being interrogated for over 53 hours, during which she was pressured into signing statements that falsely implicated Lumumba. She expressed her confusion over the events, stating, "these things seem unreal to me, like a dream." Knox emphasized the psychological toll of the interrogation, describing it as "psychological torture" that led her to question the validity of her coerced statements. Knox's handwritten document was the sole piece of evidence reviewed by the appellate court, following a ruling by Italy's supreme court that dismissed her earlier signed statements due to violations of her rights during the interrogation process. The European Court of Human Rights had previously ordered Italy to compensate Knox for failing to provide legal representation during her questioning. The case, which has drawn significant media attention, centers around the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher, with Rudy Hermann Guede, a man convicted of the crime, having his DNA found at the scene. Guede's claims of being elsewhere during the murder have been met with skepticism, as he served a 16-year sentence before his release.