In Perugia, Italy, a modern day witch trial. Literally.

[pnwmom]

Lacking actual evidence, the prosecutor and attorneys for the civil plaintiffs (who hope to gain millions from Sollecito if he and Amanda Knox are found guilty) are resorting now to accusations of witchcraft and sorcery.

Is this the Italian justice system, or a temporary aberration? The answer will come next week, when the verdict in the appeals trial is expected.

According to the opposing counsel, Amanda is:

A “witch of deception.”

"a spell-casting witch; a virtuoso of deceit."

“a satanic, diabolic she-devil”


http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20531919,00.html

Lucifer-like, demonic, satanic, diabolical

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/world/europe/italy-knox-appeal/


And if all that isn’t bad enough, she kept a VIBRATOR in her bathroom and indulged in LUST and pot and alcohol.

Anyone who can’t seem the incredible sexism in this prosecution is either sexist themselves or deliberately blind.

[DesertFlower]

1. i'll make sure i never go to italy.

[Javaman]

2. Aw come on, cut them some slack, they are home to the Eurochocolate festival. nt

[pnwmom]

3. Well, that's something. Not much comfort, though, to the 6 top seismologists

who are currently charged with manslaughter because they didn't predict the 2009 earthquake.

Guess they didn't know how to read their crystal balls.

:shrug:

[CTyankee]

9. I absolutely LOVED Perugia. Their Baci store looks like Tiffany's.

And the little chocolate shops are elegant affairs, with uniformed staff. It's so interesting because you have to take a city street escalator to get to the old section, which is where the school for the stranieri (foreigners such as Amanda) is. The food was fabulous. If they are in season, you order truffles and the maitre'd comes over with a little gadget that slices the truffles paper thin at your table.

I would go back to Perugia in a heartbeat...

[Javaman]

10. I'm going to Italy in March...

I wish I had known about their chocolate before.

I'm mostly traveling through Sicily retracing my roots.

I'll have to hit the northern part next time around.

[CTyankee]

12. Perugia is in Umbria, a very nice, green region of Italy, and less traveled than Tuscany.

I loved Sicily, too. I was all over the island, even in the Madone mountains, which was lovely. Palermo is a world class city, quite charming. If you get a chance, do go to Siricusa, an old Greek city, wonderful for Peloponesian War history buffs. At the city's art museum there is my favorite Caravaggio, The Burial of St. Lucy, which I couldn't see when I was there because it was being restored (that was in 2005). The only thing I would differently would be to plan a side trip to Malta (I think there's a ferry from Siricusa). Taormina is gorgeous, simply stunning. The only town that disappoints is Catania, which is down at the heels.

Lots of interesting things for folks in Sicily, something for everyone, but mostly history. To my surprise, BTW, there is a U.S. Air Station there...

[Javaman]

13. We are staying in Siricusa, on recommendation from a friend. :)

Thank you for the info.

We fly into Rome. We're staying there a few days then taking the train down to Sicily. Then spending the rest of the time in Siricusa/Sicily. I hadn't even thought about the art museum.

Thanks for the tip regarding the Peloponesian War and the info about Palermo.

You're tips have gotten me that much more jazzed about going, not that I already wasn't. ;)

Cheers!

[CTyankee]

16. Ah, you can stand at the edge of the harbor where the mighty Athenian navy was sunk

by the Spartans over 2500 years ago! If that doesn't get you, nothing does!

Try, try, try to get to Taormina! The sheer beauty of the place will thrill you. Take a look here:

And that's Mt. Etna in the background!

[LibertyLover]

15. I hope you get back to do the trip to Malta

My mom and I actually did the reverse. We were on Malta for a couple of weeks and one day took the ferry up to Catania on Sicily, just for the day. We got to Mt. Etna and Taromina. It was very nice.

[Suich]

4. Isn't it awful?

I can't imagine how frightening it is for Amanda Knox.

The whole thing is a joke. Reminds me a bit of the McMartin Preschool abuse case in California in the '80's. They just kept piling on.

:-(

[pnwmom]

5. She looked shell-shocked in her pictures today.

I also can't imagine what her parents are going through.

[Darth_Kitten]

8. I have no compassion for callous convicted murderers.

Amanda Knox's got a nice PR campaign going. Just an all-around American girl. Not.

[McCamy Taylor]

18. Are you from the UK? The British press started the whole "she is a slut so she must be guilty" story

[maxsolomon]

19. How is it PR to be called a satanic witch by hysterical prosecutors?

I'd say she has a shitty PR campaign going on, as many Americans are just now becoming aware of the injustice being done to her and Rafaello Solecitto, which just compounds the tragedy of Meredith Kercher's senseless rape & murder by Rudy Guede.

My observation is that she is exactly like most of the Seattle girls I know, including the one I raised. So, please share what you know that makes her NOT an "all-around American girl". Maybe Seattle isn't in America? Maybe American girls don't like sex or weed?

And this appeal trial will determine if the 1st verdict becomes a conviction. That's how if works in Italy. Read up.

[patrick t. cakes]

6. too soon

[regnaD kciN]

7. Why don't they just see if she weighs the same as a duck...?

:crazy:

[postatomic]

11. She turned me into a newt

But I'm doing much better now

[Odin2005]

14. This is a disgusting outburst of anti-Americanism.

Insinuating American women are all devilish "witches". :puke:

[McCamy Taylor]

17. Agree that she is being tried for the crime of being sexual. That was the whole case against her.

She had unwed sex----and therefore, she must be a succubus. If this trail leads to a conviction based upon no evidence except this woman's sex life, Italy can expect American tourism to drop. On the other hand, maybe they are doing it to reassure British tourists (the British press is equally to blame for condemning her for being sexual). However, the next young woman that an Italian DA decides to prosecute for the crime of being promiscuous could well be a Britain abroad, since British and American women have similar sexual values (i.e. they value freedom).