'…..Lumumba was arrested November 2007 and spent two weeks behind bars
after Knox told Italian police he had killed 21-year-old Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey.
At the time Knox, now 27, told investigators she had “covered her ears as he [Lumumba] killed Kercher"
in the bedroom of the flat the women shared.
Her claim – which Italian prosecutors alleged was to direct suspicion off herself
– was later proved to be false and Knox was given a three-year sentence for it.
Knoxhas since said she struggles with guilt over the false accusation.
But Lumumba, who said his life and business were ruined by the allegation
said: “Amanda lied to me. I am feeling very bad [about the acquittal].”......'
'….Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba 42
falsely accused by Amanda Knox of killing Meredith Kercher
said decision to quash conviction of Amanda Knox was a triumph for being “American and rich” rather than justice
surprise ruling by Italy’s supreme court to annul murder convictions of Knox and Raffaele Sollecito
was motivated by political and diplomatic reasons.
“This is not good for justice, I think it shows the power available for rich people,
she’s American and rich. For a country like Italy this is not good.
I think there were diplomatic problems with the US
and it makes things difficult with the US
so they let her free. Amanda is free because she is American,
but Americans are human like everybody.”....'
'....Speaking from Krakow in Poland with his wife after losing his bar in Perugia
and struggling to find a job in the wake of the false murder accusation
Lumumba said that despite the final ruling in the case, he still believed Knox held the answer to the case.
“What Amanda did I don’t know, but I think she knows why Meredith died.”
Kercher’s mother, Arline, said she was “surprised and shocked” at Friday’s ruling
and added it was too early to know what the family would do next.
Before Friday’s verdict it had been widely anticipated that the court would order a retrial
even if it overturned the previous convictions....'
Speaking outside the courtroom on Friday, the family’s lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said:
“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.”
Guede, from Ivory Coast, is almost halfway through a 16-year prison sentence after his trial was fast-tracked in 2008.