With their daughter sentenced to 26 years in prison, Amanda Knox’s parents are facing their own legal trouble in Italian courts.
Curt Knox and Edda Mellas have been indicted on libel charges stemming from comments made during an interview with the Sunday Times of London in 2008.
Italian prosecutors allege that Knox’s parents made false statements about their daughter’s treatment during an interrogation regarding the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Amanda’s father Curt told the British paper that his daughter was denied an interpreter and she "was abused physically and verbally." He claimed in the interview that "She told us she was hit in the back of the head by a police officer with an open hand, at least twice. The police told her, 'If you ask for a lawyer, things will get worse for you' and 'If you don't give us some explanation for what happened, you're going to go to jail for a very long time.'"
Curt Knox and Edda Mellas will face the libel charges in Perugia on July 6. Their daughter is also awaiting a new day in court- her appeal based on new DNA evidence will be heard this spring.
