Splash NewsAmanda Knox is speaking out just hours after being found guilty of murder in Italy.
In a statement obtained by NBC's Nightly News, Knox said, "First and foremost it must be recognized that there is no consolation for the Kercher family. Their grief over Meredith's terrible murder will follow them forever. They deserve respect and support.
"I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict. Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, nothing has changed. There has always been a marked lack of evidence."
In a Florence court on Thursday, Jan 30, jurors found both Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito guilty in the 2007 murder of her former roommate Meredith Kercher.
Both Knox and Sollecito spent four years in custody after being found guilty in their first trial, and were subsequently released following an acquittal in 2011.
Her statement continued, "My family and I have suffered greatly from this wrongful persecution. This has gotten out of hand. Most troubling is that it was entirely preventable. I beseech those with the knowledge and authority to address and remediate the problems that worked to pervert the course of justice and waste the valuable resources of the system."
Knox accused the Italian justice system of "character assassination" and using "coercive interrogation techniques" to "produce false confessions and inaccurate statements."
She concluded her response to the news by saying, "Clearly a wrongful conviction is horrific for the wrongfully accused, but it is also terribly bad for the victim, their surviving family, and society."
Knox was sentenced to 28 and a half years in an Italian jail. The courts will now face a potential legal battle with the United States to determine whether or not she will be extradited.