Amanda Knox has been sentenced for slandering Patrick Lumumba in the case related to the murder of Meredith Kercher which took place in Perugia in November 2007.
This was decided by the judges of the First Section of the Court of Cassation who passed the three-year prison sentence for the American citizen into final judgment.
Sentence already served at the time of Meredith's murder, when she and Raffaele Sollecito were in prison for four years, before being acquitted of the crime.
Knox implicated the Congolese, owner of the pub where she worked, in the affair, saying that on the night of the murder he would have been at the crime scene. Accusations that later proved to be unfounded and that led to the conviction of the former American student, which has now become definitive.
Francesco Maresca, lawyer for Meredith Kercher's family, immediately reacted: «This is the big question in the trial for Meredith's murder. For what purpose?
"Did Amanda Knox slander Patrick Lumumba?" he declares, speaking of "a sentence that is totally in conflict with the one of acquittal for the crime, a short circuit considering also the conviction of Rudy Guede".
"Calumny," explains Meresca, "means making an accusation, of murder, against a person knowing that he or she is innocent. Why? It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the family and those who have worked for the truth."
(Online Union)
