ECHR orders Italy to pay huge compensation to US woman suffered ill-treatment from Italian police

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the Italian government to pay a huge sum of 18,400 Euro as compensation to Amanda Knox, the US citizen mistakenly arrested for the murder of her collage mate Meredith Kercher with whom she shared her room when she reached Italy as part of a student exchange program several years ago.

The court has not been completely convinced that she suffered ill-treatment when she was in the custody of Italian police, but it has found that the lady was not allowed to contact her lawyer and not granted the service of an interpreter.

Her main allegation is that she was badly beaten by the police officials in the initial days of the interrogation and was subjected to extreme mental and physical stress.

During the course of the trial, the case has gone through several twists and turns: initially, she was convicted; while she was servicing her third year in prison, she was acquitted and deported to her home country; within a year post her acquittal, a higher court found her acquittal wrong; anyway, when the final judgment of the top court came in the year 2015, she was acquitted of all charges related to the murder.

It was a few months ago that she was allowed by the ECHR to approach them against Italy. Then, there was allegation that it was the pressure from the US that forced the court to accept the lady’s case against Italy.

Most US citizens consider her as the victim of the improper judicial system of Italy. The world media has closely followed each and every development in the case.

Meanwhile, the other part of the story is that the international interference has badly affected the case. Though a person has been arrested in connection with the case, the police have not found answers to all questions necessary to unfold the mystery of the case.

Vignesh. S. G
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