Italy violated Knox's right to defence - Strasbourg court

(ANSA) - Strasbourg, January 24 - The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday that it has ruled that Italy violated the right to defence of Amanda Knox when she was questioned in November 2007 in relation to the murder in Perugia of her British flat mate Meredith Kercher. It ordered the Italian State to pay a total of over 18,000 euros in damages and legal costs.
    The court also ruled, however, that it did not have any evidence to show that Knox had been subjected to the mistreatment she had complained about.
    "The Court took the view that the Italian Government had not succeeded in showing that the restriction of Ms Knox's access to a lawyer, at the police interview of 6 November 2007 at 5.45 a.m. - when there was a criminal charge against her - had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole," a statement read.