Amanda Knox to stand trial on slander charge

An Italian court today ordered the jailed American student Amanda Knox to stand trial for slandering police officers (AP)

An Italian court today ordered the jailed American student Amanda Knox to stand trial for slandering police officers during the investigation into the killing of her British roommate.

Knox, whose trial created a global media sensation, was sentenced to 26 years' jail in December for her part in the murder of Meredith Kercher after what judges said was a frenzied sex game that spiralled out of control.

Knox was charged with slandering police after accusing officers of beating her during the investigation. The slander charge is separate from the murder case, which is due to go to an appeal hearing on 24 November.

Prosecutors said the slander trial will begin on 17 May.

Kercher's partly unclothed body was found in November 2007, locked in her blood-spattered bedroom in the house she shared with Knox and two other students in the university town of Perugia. It had a deep stab wound in the throat.

Knox's then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and another man, Rudy Guede, were also convicted for their part in the murder.