Some guilters have stated they consider the statement not incriminating to Amanda, and, therefore, by its alleged failure to be incriminating, does not fall under the protection of ECHR case-law.
In the ECHR judgment ALEKSANDR ZAICHENKO v. RUSSIA 39660/02 18/02/2010, the following statement establishes ECHR case-law, which refutes the claim by the guilters that Amanda Knox's coerced statement alleging Lumumba's involvement in the murder of Meredith Kercher does not fall under Article 6 protection, even if it were not considered as incriminating to Amanda:
54. Bearing in mind the concept of fairness in Article 6, the Court considers that the right not to incriminate oneself cannot reasonably be confined to statements of admission of wrongdoing or to remarks which are directly incriminating.... Testimony obtained under compulsion which appears on its face to be of a non-incriminating nature - such as exculpatory remarks or mere information on questions of fact - may later be deployed in criminal proceedings in support of the prosecution case, for example to contradict or cast doubt upon other statements of the accused or evidence given by him during the trial or to otherwise undermine his credibility.
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I thank Kauffer for pointing out this ECHR case in a post on this forum.
I would agree with them that in reality it isn't. However, the problem with that is the Perugian authorities thought the statements were very incriminating. *Note that they immediately arrested both Amanda, Raffaele and Patrick and held a press conference.
No, that dog won't hunt.
This dynamic is what sinks guilter thought. True, there is not one uniform guilter-monolith, most guilter chatter exists to take slutted-up pot-shots at Amanda Knox and those folks really don't care about a consistent guilter-narrative - it's just another day on the internet with the venom spewed.
What is key is the lack of internal debate. For those who once believed that the 1:45 am and 5:45 am memorales were the key to this case, and that the wrongful naming of Patrick was proof that two students were engaging in some sophisticated cover-up of their crimes.....
..... where are those providing the "push-back" against those who now say that since those memorale are **not** incriminating, that ECHR should not be touching their application? Potential objectors there remain silent, because afterall the purpose is to incriminate the former students regardless.
I don't mean to imply that every guilter has the same view point, or that all have claimed that any of Amanda's statements were not incriminating.
On this forum, however, one or two have presented the argument that Amanda's statement was not incriminating, and that she was simply presenting a kind of witness statement - perhaps focusing on the aspect that she stated (under coercion) that she had observed Lumumba going into Meredith's room the night of the murder.
However, as acbytesla points out, that statement was actually the major basis for her arrest, as stated in the arrest warrant. So objectively, the Italian authorities considered it incriminating.
The point is that whether or not the Italian authorities considered them incriminating, none of the statements Amanda made from the start of the interrogation on Nov. 5, 2007 to the time that she was first able to consult with a lawyer on Nov. 8, 2007 may be used to convict her of anything, according the ECHR case-law. In fact, in Italian procedural law relating to the use of evidence, no evidence gathered contrary to Italian procedural law may be used to convict someone of a crime. And it is against Italian procedural law to gather statements to be used as evidence from a person who is, or should be considered, a suspect, without informing her of her right to remain silent, to have a lawyer, that anything she says may be used against her, and that anything she says about the liability of another person makes her take on the responsibilities of a witness (apparently a warning against false accusations).
These laws include: CPP Articles 191 (Unlawfully gathered evidence), 63 (Incriminating statements), 64 (General rules for questioning), and 350 (Investigative questioning of the suspect).
That the Italian authorities ignored their own laws and Constitution in wrongfully convicting Amanda Knox of calunnia (false accusation) against Patrick Lumumba will be one factor that the ECHR will note when it passes judgment that Italy violated Knox's Convention rights.