Knox defends decision to stay away from trial

US student Amanda Knox has defended her decision not to return to Italy for a new appeals trial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate, even as she acknowledged that “everything is at stake”. She insisted she is innocent.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Sep 2013, 17:08 BST

“I was already imprisoned as innocent person in Italy, and I can’t reconcile the choice to go back with that experience,” Ms Knox said in a US television interview. “I just can’t relive that.”

When asked if she was worried that she was handing prosecutors an admission of guilt by not attending the trial, she responded: “I look at it of an admission of innocence.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ms Knox said there was no trace of her in the room where her roommate, Leeds University student Meredith Kercher, was found killed when both were exchange students studying in Perugia, Italy. Ms Kercher’s throat had been slashed.

“It’s impossible for me to have participated in this crime if there’s no trace of me,” Ms Knox said.

In March, Italy’s supreme court ordered a new trial for Ms Knox and her Italian former boyfriend. An appeals court in 2011 had acquitted both, overturning convictions by a lower court.

The new appeals trial is due to begin in Florence a week on Monday.

Ms Knox said school and finances also were keeping her from attending the hearing.

Related topics:Italy