An Italian court ruled on Tuesday to overturn the acquittal of American student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murdering Knox's British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. The annulment made headlines around the world and the new trial promises months or even years of additional fodder.
Around Europe, newspaper coverage of the court’s reversal suggested a renewed suspicion of the young woman. German tabloid Bild, for example, led with the headline “Has Amanda Knox Lied To Us All?”
Several European outlets also made note of the court's decision to uphold Knox's defamation conviction for initially accusing Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba of the murder. Pablo Ordaz writes in Spain’s largest newspaper El Pais that "this conviction overshadows the portrait painted by the U.S. media of its beautiful fellow: a poor innocent girl caught in the net of Italian’s slow and sloppy judicial system."
In England, the coverage highlighted the reaction of Meredith Kercher's family. The Telegraph quotes Kercher's mother saying the decision had "surprised" her, but that she was "glad someone is looking at it." Kercher's family had been hoping for a retrial since Knox and Sollecito's acquittal in 2011, CNN reported.
In Italy, newspapers covered every aspect of the developing case. Knox shared the spotlight with ex-boyfriend Sollecito and his family. In an interview with La Repubblica, Sollecito's lawyer, Guilia Bongiorno, referred to her client's continuing legal doubts as "a way of the cross". Milan-based daily ll Sole 24 Ore reported on Sollecito's plans to move to Switzerland and become the managing director of a communications company in Lugano.
To see how papers around the world covered the news of the Amanda Knox retrial, check out the slideshow below.
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