Amanda Knox's Family Slams 'Harassment' By Italian Prosecutor

Feb. 14, 2012— -- The family of Amanda Knox said today that efforts by Italian prosecutors to put her back in prison is "an example of the harassment" by prosecutors who are intent on prolonging "this terrible, painful incident."

Knox's family put out the statement after prosecutor Giovanni Galati filed a 112-page appeal seeking to throw out a court ruling that found Knox innocent of her roommate's murder and set her free after four years in an Italian prison.

Galati said he is "very convinced" that Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito killed Meredith Kercher Nov. 1, 2007. Kercher, Knox's British roommate, was found dead in her room with her throat slashed.

Knox's family said they knew the prosecution would challenge the court's ruling.

"We are not concerned about this appeal as Amanda's innocence was clearly and convincingly proven in her appeal trial," the statement said. "This is simply another example of harassment by the prosecution against Amanda and makes this terrible, painful incident continue to go on for Amanda, Raffaele and their families.

Galati said the appeals court conclusion had "omissions and many errors," according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.

The appeal challenges the court's decision to allow an independent review of the forensic evidence on two key pieces of evidence, Kercher's bra clasp that supposedly contained Sollecito's DNA and the alleged murder weapon, which supposedly had both Knox and Kercher's DNA on it. The court declined to allow a review of other evidence, Galati's papers said.

Knox and Sollecito were freed after the independent review found that DNA evidence was badly mishandled, could have been contaminated and was so minute it was not legally credible.

In setting aside Knox and Sollecito's convictions, the court said the prosecutor's allegation "was not corroborated by any objective element of evidence and in itself was not, in fact probable: the sudden choice of two young people, good and open to other people, to do evil for evil's sake, just like that, without another reason."

Today's appeal came more than four months after Knox, 24, and Sollecito, 27, were freed in a dramatic ruling in Perugia, Italy.

Knox has several legal issues still pending in Italy. She is appealing her conviction of slandering her former boss Patrick Lumumba, which she claims she was pressured by Italian police to implicate during a marathon interrogation.

She faces charges of slandering her police interrogators for claiming they hit her in the head during her grilling.

Her parents also face slander charges for repeating their daughter's claim about the police interrogation.

It's not clear whether the Knoxes will return to Italy for more legal proceedings, but her Italian lawyer Carlo Dall Vedova said earlier this year that Knox "loves Italy," and would return as a witness at her parents' trial.

A third person, Ivory Coast-born drifter Rudy Guede, was convicted of taking part in Kercher's murder in a separate trial. He is serving a 16 year prison sentence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report