Amanda Knox allowed to launch legal action against Italy over trial 'abuses'

Amanda Knox is suing Italy for allegedly violating her human rights when she was imprisoned, acquitted, re-convicted and then acquitted over the murder of her flatmate Meredith Kercher.

Ms Kercher, 21, from Surrey was stabbed to death in Perugia, Italy in November 2007. Days later Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested on suspicion of her murder. They were found guilty in December 2009 and jailed for 26 and 25 years respectively. Knox and Sollecito were both acquitted in 2011 before being convicted again in 2014. They were both finally acquitted in March, 2015 after an eight-year legal battle.

Rudy Guede, a native of the Ivory Coast who lived in the area, was found guilty of the murder in 2007 and is still in prison for the crime. The courts have argued he did not act alone but none else has been convicted of acting alongside him in the murder.

Now, the European Court of Human Rights has granted Knox, 28, the right to make a legal complaint against the country, the BBC reports.

Knox claims she wasn’t given a fair trial and during questioning was interviewed in a language she was only just getting to grips without an interpreter. She also says she was interrogated without a lawyer present, was subject to “psychological pressure” and was hit on the head by officers during interrogation.

She also claims due to the pressure she was put under she ended up falsely accusing local bar-owner Patrick Lumumba, of which she still remains convicted of slander. She was cleared of slandering Italian police and legal officials in January.

The court has asked for more information from the Italian government before the case can be brought to trial.

Knox’s lawyer Luciano Ghirga said of the decision: "The court’s acceptance of the appeal is great news. It’s difficult to get cases accepted. I can’t say it gives me any satisfaction, however, as so many suffering has already been caused.”