Amanda Knox indicted on charges of slandering Italian police

Student convicted of Meredith Kercher murder to face trial for accusing officers of slapping her during interrogation

Amanda Knox is said to be 'extremely sad and worried' about facing slander charges. Photograph: Fabrizio Troccoli/AP

Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her British roommate Meredith Kercher, has been indicted on charges of slandering Italian police officers.

Knox, 23, who was sentenced to 26 years in December for fatally stabbing Kercher in November 2007 in Perugia, claims she is innocent of murder and was slapped by officers during her interrogation.

"I didn't mean to offend or slander anybody," she said in Italian in court today. "I reiterate, I was only trying to defend myself. I was exercising a right."

The presiding judge, Claudia Matteini, turned down a request by Knox's lawyers that charges be dropped and set a trial date for 17 May 2011.

Knox could face an extra six years in jail if she is found guilty of slander. She was visibly disappointed when the ruling was read out. "Amanda is extremely sad and worried," said her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova.

Prosecutors have asked that Knox's parents also stand trial for slander for repeating the allegations in an interview.

Knox will be back in court in Perugia on 24 November for the first of two appeals against her sentence that she is permitted by Italian law. Also appealing is her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who was sentenced to 25 years for his role in the murder.

Knox's lawyers are due to contest DNA evidence used to convict her.

Rudy Guede, 23, who was also convicted for the killing, which was described by prosecutors as a sex game gone wrong, saw his sentence reduced from 30 to 16 years in his first appeal. Italy's supreme court will hear his final appeal on 16 December.