Monday,
November 12, 2007
The
ANNOTICO Report
Meredith
Kercher, 21, from
The
suspects are Patrick Diya Lumumba, 44, a Congolese Musician,DJ and Club Manager at Le Chic, (and an
independent Event Promoter), Amanda
Knox, 20,
American University of Washington student, who worked many nights
at Le Chic, (and was the roommate of Kercher) and
her Italian boyfriend of a few weeks, Raffaele Sollecito,
24. Police
believe Meredith was killed when she refused to have sex with the three
suspects. There is a fourth yet
unidentifiable suspect whose bloody fingerprint was found on a pillow.
Now
a little background: In Perugia, an enlightened city of 150,000, there are
two universities, an Italian one and one for foreigners, neither of
which likes each other much- while both are viewed with duality by the locals. The beautiful old town,
with its fresco-adorned palaces, art galleries and piazzas, is cut off from the
new, industrial town - and most permanent Perugian
residents - by its lofty position.
On the whole, the
Italian students despise the foreigners, who arrive in their masses at
regular intervals, often naive, ignorant of Italian customs and interested
only in partying. From the foreigners
perspective, real friendship with the Italians is the Holy Grail. Italian
girls are reluctant to "associate" with the
"foreigners" lest they be painted with the same "slutty" brush, and be looked down upon, and
ostracized. !!!!
So
under the pretense of gaining culture it seems MORE like a great opportunity to
"sow their wild oats". And the American and British women seem more
naive, and most easily impressed, and anxious to know people as lowly as the
bartenders, bar managers, and event promoters, to feel part of the
"in" invited crowd, and feel accepted, and therefore more vulnerable.
By day the Foreign students manned
the steps of the duomo
(the cathedral), the focal point of Perugian socialising.They would gather to chat and eat gelato.
At night, the Foreign students --
meet up at the fountain in the main square and proceed on from there to
drink-and-drug-fueled affairs . For as little as
$15, students can buy drugs (mostly hashish) from dealers Also, American
students like to go out -- especially because going to bars is a novelty for
many of them who would still be underage back in the States.
The stories of
drugs, sex and parties being reported about
But some
foreign-studies students here say that's unfair."We're
not just here to party; we're ALSO (meaning additionally, and secondarily) here
to study," said one student. Rather self incriminating.
The First article
takes a defensive view for local student Amanda Knox, and attempts to deflect
"blame" on the city of
Who should be in
greater fear, the alcohol besotted, drug fueled, hedonistic, immature
"students", or the reserved cultural Perugians ???
Foreign Students in
PERUGIA, Italy --
Foreign students come to this enchanting hillside town to immerse themselves
in the Italian language and culture, marvel at the medieval architecture and
visit the vineyards and villages of the Umbrian countryside.
They never
imagined that one of them might be raped and killed -- or that another student,
Amanda Marie Knox of
"Nobody
can remember the last time there was a murder in
The 26-year-old
from
After the
slaying, Andrea Fonte, a newspaper vendor in
"There's
sadness in the air. They are worried," Fonte
said.
If foreigners
start thinking twice about choosing
Minici, a 23-year-old Italian,
helped organize a memorial site for slaying victim Meredith Kercher,
a 21-year-old British student who roomed with Knox, a
"In the
beginning, no one could believe it happened. Now we are trying to catalog our
emotions. This sort of destabilized everything," Minici
said. "We want to react and dialogue with the foreign students. They are
scared."
He added,
"Without them (foreign students),
Knox and two
other suspects have been held for nearly a week in the region's high-security Capanne prison, nestled between olive groves and pines in the
hills outside
She is accused
of being involved in the Nov. 1 killing of Kercher,
who bled to death after being stabbed during a rape in the two-story cottage
they shared here. A judge Friday ruled that the suspects can be detained for up
to a year pending formal charges. Charges would be pressed once prosecutors
request a trial date.
The criminal
investigation is moving quickly. Tests begin Monday in
Police
reportedly are searching for a possible fourth suspect whose bloody fingerprint
was found on a pillow in the cottage.
There are also
questions about the whereabouts of some of Knox's clothes, specifically a
fleece jacket she may have been wearing the night of the killing, according to
the 19-page report issued Friday by Judge Claudia Matteini.
Knox has
maintained her innocence.
"She is
regretful, she's fatigued, she's confused," her attorney, Luciano Ghirga, told the
Ghirga, who works in an austere
law office adjacent to an ancient underground Etruscan well in the
Behind bars, Knox
has support services available to her, including psychologists, nuns and the
prison chaplain, a Catholic priest. She is said to be spending most of her time
writing.
On Saturday, Knox
got her first visit with her parents, Kurt Knox and Edda
Mellas, spending an hour with them. Visitors are
allowed one visit a week -- on Tuesdays or Saturdays.
Knox came to
In her report, Matteini wrote that Kercher and
Knox were "linked because of their similar habits, as they often went to
the university together, frequented the same circle of friends."
Most mornings,
Knox would stop in for cappuccino and a croissant at a corner coffee bar near
Piazza Grimana, near her home and the university.
When she wasn't in class, she did yoga, shopped in the university quarter or surfed the Internet, where she blogged
on the social networking site MySpace.
At night, she
did what many students in
With as little
as $15, students can buy drugs (mostly hashish) from dealers who, until the
increased police presence over the past week, would sell it from the cathedral
steps in the heart of the city.
Knox worked
many nights at Le Chic, a club managed by Congolese musician Patrick Lumumba, 44, also accused in Kercher's rape and killing. The third suspect is Knox's
Italian boyfriend of a few weeks, Raffaele Sollecito,
23.
The stories of
drugs, sex and parties being reported about Perugia in recent days make the
city seem like the Cancun of Europe. But some foreign-studies students here say
that's unfair.
"We're not
just here to party; we're also here to study," said Ann Christin, 24, a medical student from
Esteban Garcia Pascual, owner of a wine bar popular with foreign students,
said American students like to go out -- especially because going to bars is
a novelty for many of them who would still be underage back in the States.
But they also study hard.
"When they
have an exam, the American students disappear for three days," Garcia Pascual said.
Andrea
Vogt is a freelance writer in
My Student
Days in
A
torchlight procession takes place in the town where British student Meredith Kercher was murdered
It is a lively
town,
Lumumba, 44, and
American student Amanda Knox, 20, and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 24, are being held in a prison outside
Like Meredith,
from Coulson, South London, I was in
By day they
manned the steps of the duomo (the cathedral), the focal point of Perugian socialising.
They were an
institution, these men - Pisco and Francesco,
two local baristas, Abdul, my friend
As a student in
On the whole,
the Italian students despise the foreigners, who arrive in their masses at
regular intervals, often naive, ignorant of Italian customs and interested only
in partying. From the foreigners perspective,
real friendship with the Italians is the Holy Grail. I was lucky enough to
live with three Italian girls (and a German boy intent on ingratiating himself
by disparaging all other foreigners), who eventually embraced my Anglo-Saxon
idiosyncrasies but took some persuasion. The day I arrived my new flat-mate
Silvia explained that she couldnt come out with
me. "Alessandra says people will look down on me if I drink. They will
think I am like you, an English girl."
So it was
easier to be friends with the group on the steps. Who cared if to them we
were just fresh blood to impress? Through them you met people, you felt
important. It felt like being a member of the Mafia (indeed there were tales of
money-laundering and dirty deals, though most were probably untrue and probably
spread by the men themselves) - you knew they were a little unsavoury but it was an ego-boost.
Patrick appeared
to be one of the more harmless ones. He did not have a reputation as a womaniser and seemed more interested in other peoples
enjoyment than his own. Every lunchtime, hed go
with many others to the entrance to the Universit? per Stranieri to hand out fliers
for bar and club nights. Some days my friends and I would join him. You got
free drinks if you handed out fliers.
Patricks DJ
sets at La Tana Dell Orso
were popular, and he would organise other nights,
too, at bigger clubs and villas outside the city. Occasionally, these were
drink-and-drug-fuelled affairs, but more often than not they were just
light-hearted fun. Some of these guys were looking to corrupt, but most just
wanted to have a good time.
Despite their
shady reputation, this group was remarkably inclusive, by Perugian
standards. The Italian press has made much of the fact that Patrick is an
immigrant. As such he will certainly have had a cold reception on his arrival
in
Perhaps it was
because of its small size, perhaps because there is a residual sense of being
sheltered from the world in
A year after I
had left, I returned for a long weekend to visit Silvia. As we wandered along
the Corso Vannucci, I
spotted Francesco and Pisco, with Patrick and the
others, sitting on the steps of the duomo, surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls. It was
laughably familiar, and the group seemed all the more harmless for its
predictability. As a friend remarked as she looked at pictures of Meredith out
on the town with people we used to know: "She looks just like we did. Sociable. Happy."
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