Post date: Jan 30, 2014 4:17:11 PM
The Congolese bar owner, falsely implicated by Amanda Knox in the murder of Briton Meredith Kercher, turns up to hear the verdict in the murder retrial, and says the American student 'has a role in this and is running away'.
FLORENCE, ITALY (JANUARY 30, 2014) (REUTERS) - Patrick Lumumba, the Congolese bar owner, falsely implicated by U.S. student Amanda Knox in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher on Thursday (January 30) turned up at a courthouse in Florence to listen to the verdict in the murder retrial.
The prosecution has asked for Italian Raffaele Sollecito and Knox to be sentenced to 26 years each in jail for the murder of Kercher and accusations of staging a robbery to cover it up.It has also asked for a separate sentence of four years for Knox for a standing slander conviction, for falsely implicating Lumumba in statements to police in which she also described hearing her roommate scream.
"I'm not trying to portray Amanda as an evil person, that's not what I've said," Lumumba told journalists as he arrived at the court.
"However, Amanda has a role, a part in this incident and in my opinion she is responsible for the death of poor Meredith. The fact that she is not here to me means that she is escaping, not because she's been portrayed as the evil one. Amanda has always sought to be the centre of the attention and this is an occasion for her to really be in the centre of attention but seeing she is not here means that she is running away because she is not taking this opportunity," he said.
"I expect Amanda to be found guilty," he added.
The U.S. student, along with Sollecito deny any involvement in the brutal killing at the heart of one of the highest profile murder trials in recent Italian history and has declared she will remain a "fugitive" if found guilty.
"We feel calm, as the people who know to be in the right do, knowing that Raffaele Sollecito has not done anything wrong, let alone kill Meredith Kercher," said Sollecito's lawyer Luca Maori.
"Raffaele is with his family, it is a moment of reflection and naturally of a great tension for him but there is however the awareness that he has not committed any crimes and had no part in the homicide. So, he awaits to hear his fate but with conviction of his complete innocence in this case," Maori said.
A verdict is expected after 1600GMT (1700 local) and whichever verdict comes out, one side is likely to challenge it, and it will have to be confirmed by Italy's high court to become definitive.