THE REAL VICTIM

Meredith

Meredith Kercher

The name Amanda Knox is widely known in America, is familiar in England, and rubbished in Italy. She, along with two men, was convicted of a 2007 murder in Italy.

The name Meredith Kercher however is hardly recognised anywhere. This was the young 21 year old exchange student from London who was murdered. Knox (20), together with her then boyfriend Italian Raffacle Sollecito, and another man Rudy Guede (who had been extradited from Germany, to where he had fled) were all charged and convicted at the ‘first grade’ trial of Meredith’s horrific killing.

The well respected Italian justice system allows two appeals before convictions become definitive. While Guede has exhausted the appeals process, the other two have not as yet.

In 2011 at the first appeal level, Knox & Sollecito were acquitted & released, but that decision was subsequently squashed by the next level, the Italian Supreme Court, who sent the matter back to the lower court; last week the two accused were there deemed guilty as per the original court verdict of 2009. They are expected now to appeal to the Supreme Court.

After four years in jail, Knox had returned to the USA in 2011, apparently to a hero’s welcome (amid claims of Italian anti-Americanism) – that’s what the Americans can be like sometimes (no real concern though, by Knox or the media, for the murdered Meredith).

Knox and the others apparently gave varying & conflicting accounts to police of what happened that night of the rape and murder. Forensic evidence concluded that more than one person was involved in this shocking crime. It is unlikely that anybody will ever now find out exactly what happened that dreadful night.

Amanda Knox has embarked on a strident campaign of denigration of the Italian justice system, together with a charm offensive to present herself to the American public as a poor waif of a girl caught up in a nightmare not of her own making – she has been keen to drop her sexy image and earlier chosen nickname ‘Foxy Knoxy’!

She has been on national television performing tear jerking interviews with carefully selected ‘soft’ sympathetic interviewers, and all her acts are coordinated by a major PR firm.

Understandably, her objective is to avoid going back to Italy, as she must be concerned that the Italian Supreme Court will reject any appeal, particularly in light of their previous involvement. She is therefore hoping to galvanise a groundswell of public support against ‘extradition’ if it come to that. It is improbable though that the United States would refuse to return Knox to Italy.

[The American public supporters of Knox are said to be one-sided and poorly informed about the evidence against her. In most criminal proceedings there are always protestations of innocence and conflicts on evidence. It is the role of the courts to determine the outcome – in this case the Italian courts, not the Knox American cheerleaders].