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Knox verdict: Italian justice system has failed, says Meredith Kercher's family | Knox verdict: Italian justice system has failed, says Meredith Kercher's family |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The family of Meredith Kercher has said that the Italian justice system has failed after the country’s top court annulled the conviction of Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for murdering the British student. | The family of Meredith Kercher has said that the Italian justice system has failed after the country’s top court annulled the conviction of Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for murdering the British student. |
In a statement outside the courtroom, the family’s lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said: “This is not so much a defeat for the prosecution as a defeat for Italy’s justice system. The judges said there is a lack of proof and whoever acted with [Rudi] Guede [the only person found guilty of the murder] has not been found.” | In a statement outside the courtroom, the family’s lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said: “This is not so much a defeat for the prosecution as a defeat for Italy’s justice system. The judges said there is a lack of proof and whoever acted with [Rudi] Guede [the only person found guilty of the murder] has not been found.” |
The decision by a five-judge panel on Friday night to clear the pair definitively ends the long-running case, following the 2007 murder. Kercher’s throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted while she was on an Erasmus year in the medieval hill town of Perugia. | The decision by a five-judge panel on Friday night to clear the pair definitively ends the long-running case, following the 2007 murder. Kercher’s throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted while she was on an Erasmus year in the medieval hill town of Perugia. |
Guede, from Ivory Coast, is almost halfway through a 16-year prison sentence after his trial was fast-tracked in 2008. | Guede, from Ivory Coast, is almost halfway through a 16-year prison sentence after his trial was fast-tracked in 2008. |
The Kercher family’s comments come a year after they expressed confidence in the Italian justice system. Late on Friday night, Kercher’s mother, Arline, said she was “surprised and very shocked” by the annulment. | |
It had been widely expected that the court would at least order a retrial, even if it overturned the previous convictions, but instead judges moved to definitively clear both Knox and Sollecito. | |
Speaking at her mother’s home in Seattle after the pair were cleared, Knox said she was “full of joy”. | Speaking at her mother’s home in Seattle after the pair were cleared, Knox said she was “full of joy”. |
“I’m grateful to have my life back,” she told reporters, standing alongside her family. “I’m still absorbing the present moment, which is full of joy.” | |
“Meredith was my friend,” she said. “She deserved so much in this life.” | |
Bill Knox, her grandfather, told reporters he was “relieved and ecstatic” that she could finally move on with her life in Seattle, where she has worked as a newspaper journalist. | |
Related: Kercher family have a bitter pill to swallow after verdict | Related: Kercher family have a bitter pill to swallow after verdict |
“It’s been a long time coming. I just want for her to be happy,” he said. “She is an exciting granddaughter.” | |
Knox has tried to lead a normal life since she was freed from an Italian prison more than three years ago. She recently got engaged and has started writing theatre reviews and for a weekly newspaper. | Knox has tried to lead a normal life since she was freed from an Italian prison more than three years ago. She recently got engaged and has started writing theatre reviews and for a weekly newspaper. |
Her Italian defence lawyer said she had been “crying with happiness”, over the court’s decision. He said: “We shouldn’t have had to wait all these years, but we have a good decision today, so we are happy.” | |
Tom Wright, who has known Knox since high school and wrote a book about the case, told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “Quite frankly there were tears everywhere, everyone in the room. This has been eight years, she served four years that she didn’t deserve.” | Tom Wright, who has known Knox since high school and wrote a book about the case, told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “Quite frankly there were tears everywhere, everyone in the room. This has been eight years, she served four years that she didn’t deserve.” |
Asked about his thoughts of Kercher and her family, he said: “We are very hopeful that this helps brings some closure for them as well. There were prayers said for Meredith after the decision was announced.” | Asked about his thoughts of Kercher and her family, he said: “We are very hopeful that this helps brings some closure for them as well. There were prayers said for Meredith after the decision was announced.” |
In West Seattle, where Knox grew up, the news of her acquittal was accompanied by the sound of fireworks echoing across the water. | In West Seattle, where Knox grew up, the news of her acquittal was accompanied by the sound of fireworks echoing across the water. |
“I’m just ecstatic,” said Karen Pruett, a long-time friend of the Knox family. “The Italian courts did the right thing. It was very difficult for them, and we understand that, but we’re beyond pleased that they chose justice and truth.” | “I’m just ecstatic,” said Karen Pruett, a long-time friend of the Knox family. “The Italian courts did the right thing. It was very difficult for them, and we understand that, but we’re beyond pleased that they chose justice and truth.” |
As the sound of cheers and celebrations filtered out to the terrace from the restaurant inside, Pruett said she thought the Knox family were feeling “jubilant and relieved and buoyant”, but also probably exhausted. “It was a long and excruciating and twisted journey,” she said. | As the sound of cheers and celebrations filtered out to the terrace from the restaurant inside, Pruett said she thought the Knox family were feeling “jubilant and relieved and buoyant”, but also probably exhausted. “It was a long and excruciating and twisted journey,” she said. |
Through her lawyer, Knox gave the Guardian a statement upon learning the news of her acquittal, saying she was “tremendously relieved and grateful”. | Through her lawyer, Knox gave the Guardian a statement upon learning the news of her acquittal, saying she was “tremendously relieved and grateful”. |
“The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal. And throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends, and strangers. To them, I say, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person.” | “The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal. And throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends, and strangers. To them, I say, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person.” |
Her family expressed “profound gratitude” to those who supported Knox, and said they were “thrilled with and grateful” for the Italian supreme court’s decision. | |
Pruett said she hoped the pursuit of justice for Meredith Kercher’s family would continue. “In my opinion the case file needs to be reopened and examined carefully, so that the proper information is given to the Kerchers and they get their questions answered,” she told the Guardian. | |
“Thank God it’s over. They can get on with their lives,” said Candace Dempsey, the author of Murder in Italy, a book about the case, who was also celebrating at the restaurant. | |
“I’m very pleased and very surprised. Usually I’m an optimist, but I was sure this was going against them. I think it’s a brilliant move by Italy. They’ve averted a diplomatic crisis that no one needed. I couldn’t be happier that two innocent people are going free. | “I’m very pleased and very surprised. Usually I’m an optimist, but I was sure this was going against them. I think it’s a brilliant move by Italy. They’ve averted a diplomatic crisis that no one needed. I couldn’t be happier that two innocent people are going free. |
“I never thought when I wrote my book that this would happen. I’m so happy.” | “I never thought when I wrote my book that this would happen. I’m so happy.” |
Dempsey is also hopeful that the online abuse she said she has suffered from those who insisted Knox was guilty will come to an end. “I just hope the ‘guilters’ can go home now, and this tragic saga will be over at last,” she said. “It’s made me an admirer of Italian justice.” | Dempsey is also hopeful that the online abuse she said she has suffered from those who insisted Knox was guilty will come to an end. “I just hope the ‘guilters’ can go home now, and this tragic saga will be over at last,” she said. “It’s made me an admirer of Italian justice.” |
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