The Italian government must pay the American Amanda Knox, who was finally acquitted in 2015 of manslaughter on her British co-hirer in 2007 in Perugia, with compensation of € 18,000 for the violation of her defence rights. That was the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday.
According to the ECHR, the Italian authorities failed to investigate Knox’s complaints in which she stated that she had been ill-treated during her first two interrogations by the police. Moreover, according to the Court, Knox was also denied access to a lawyer during those interrogations and the interpreter of the police did not act professionally. According to the judges, the woman “cuddled Ms Knox, caressed her hair and held her hands, which is clearly inappropriate behavior”.
The ECtHR stated that Italy should pay Knox 10,400 euros compensation and 8,000 euros for costs and expenses.
The British Meredith Kercher (21) was found dead in November in a pool of blood in the apartment she shared with Amanda Knox in the Italian student city of Perugia. After eight years of proceedings, Knox and her Italian friend Raffaele Sollecito, who were in prison for four years, were finally acquitted by the Italian court. The Ivorian Rudy Guédé, whose DNA was found on the body of the victim, was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for involvement in the murder.