REFUGEE

PERUGIA, Italy – Amanda Knox sounded casual, surprised even, by the simple question as it came through the door of her prison cell in English on Sunday: "How are you?"

"OK, thanks. How are you guys?" said the American student, who had been sentenced eight days earlier to 26 years in prison for the murder of her British roommate. But minutes later, Knox confided, in answer to a question from an Associated Press reporter in her cell: "I am scared because I don't know what is going on."

The 22-year-old, who is a cause celebre in the United States among those who contend she was wrongly convicted by the Perugia court, received a 10-minute visit inside the cell by two Italian lawmakers, prison officials and a pair of reporters in Capanne prison on the outskirts of Perugia.

Knox has been jailed for two years since she was arrested a few days after the slaying of Meredith Kercher in the house the two students shared in this medieval town.

Kercher's body was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, in the bedroom of the house in Perugia, a university town in Umbria, central Italy. Prosecutors said the Leeds University student was slain the previous night.

Three people, including Knox's Italian former boyfriend, have been convicted of sexual assault and murder.

"I am waiting and always hoping," Knox said, switching from English into Italian for the delegation. "I don't understand many things, but I have to accept them, things that for me don't always seem very fair."

Knox immediately came to the door of the 9-square-meter (nearly 100-sq.foot) two-bed cell when she heard the first words in English.

Toward the end of the visit, the woman from Washington state recalled her emotions on Dec. 5, when shortly after midnight the judge read out the verdict after a nearly yearlong trial: "I was feeling horrendous" upon being convicted.

"The guards helped me out. They held me all night," she said.

Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who was given a 25-year-sentence, is now in another prison. Both insist they are innocent, as does a third defendant, Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, who was convicted in a separate trial.

Defendants in Italian trials can pursue appeals, and Knox's lawyers have expressed hope she will be acquitted in an appeals trial.

Knox looked relieved when Italian parliamentary deputy Rocco Girlanda, in the delegation, recounted the unrelated case of a young man also convicted of murder at the first trial but exonerated during the appeal.

In Italian jails, inmates can wear their own clothing, and Knox wore a gray-and-white-flecked turtleneck sweater, black legging trousers, white socks and black slippers. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The visitors, who included a reporter from the Italian news agency ANSA, were not allowed to ask Knox questions about the trial itself. No cameras or tape recorders were permitted.

Knox spoke about her affection for her family and her determination to continue her university studies, the reason she came to Perugia a few months before Kercher's slaying.

"I believe in my family. They are telling me to stay calm," Knox said. Her family, as well as a senator from her home state, Maria Cantwell, have spearheaded a vigorous campaign to convince Italian authorities she is innocent.

The visit was arranged by Fondazione Italia USA, which promotes close relations between the two countries, in an effort to heal any rift over accusations that Italy's justice system is unfair.

"My family is the most important thing for me. I also miss going to classes," she said. "I miss stimulating conversations."

She said she is in contact with her professors. "We are trying to work out how I can talk to them," she added, noting that while she can write letters from prison, e-mail access is forbidden.

Knox's cell mate, who has been identified by other lawmakers in previous visits as a 53-year-old American woman from New Orleans serving a four-year sentence for a drug conviction, wasn't present during the visit.

The cell includes a private bathroom with shower, toilet and bidet.

Shortly after her visitors left the cell, just before lunch time, Knox sat on her bed and was reading some handwritten papers. When she heard the delegation leaving the corridor, she looked up, waved and said, "Ciao."

TVs and newspapers are available, although Knox said she doesn't watch television or read the newspapers.

The prison was decked out for the holidays, with Christmas trees. During a short tour, the delegation saw a hairdresser, whose services inmates can use once a week.

A pingpong table is among the recreation facilities.

PERUGIA, Italy – Amanda Knox sought comfort from visiting family members Saturday on her first day in prison since being convicted of murdering her British roommate.

The family of victim Meredith Kercher said the verdict brought a measure of justice. However, they said, it was not a time to celebrate.

Knox, a college student from Seattle, was tired and upset following the midnight verdict and sentence of 26 years in prison, according to family members and a lawyer who saw her.

"Amanda like the rest is extremely disappointed, upset about the decision," Knox's mother, Edda Mellas, said after the visit to the prison just outside Perugia. "We told her that she's gonna get out of here. It's gonna take a little longer."

Knox and Kercher's families came to this central Italian town for the verdict, which was announced at around midnight after 13 hours of deliberations. The court also convicted Knox's co-defendant and former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, and gave him a 25-year jail term for the murder.

Knox and Sollecito are appealing the verdicts.

"She couldn't sleep all night," said lawyer Luciano Ghirga, who spent an hour with Knox at her jail just outside Perugia on Saturday morning. "She's worried for her parents, too, but she is keeping the faith needed for the next steps."

Ghirga said Knox was kept under strict surveillance. He denied reports that she had been put under suicide watch, which is the standard practice in such cases.

Kercher, 21, was Knox's roommate while they studied in Perugia.

Her body was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, at the apartment they shared. Prosecutors said the Leeds University student was murdered the previous night.

"Meredith still leaves a big hole in our lives and her presence is missed every time we meet up as a family," John Kercher Jr., one of her brothers, told a press conference in Perugia.

Kercher's sister, Stephanie, said the verdict "does bring a little bit of justice, for us and for her." But she added: "Life will never be the same without Mez."

The prosecutors said they were satisfied with the ruling and would not seek to appeal, even though the court did not grant their request for life imprisonment. Prosecutor Manuela Comodi said that the verdict "recognizes the defendants are guilty of all the crimes they had been charged with."

In an interview with ABC News in the hours that followed the verdict, Curt Knox said he was "stunned."

"I just looked at them; I looked at the jurors," he told ABC. He then said he thought to himself: "'How could you even do this with what was presented in the court of law?'"

Knox's families and her supporters have long sought to cast doubt on the Italian justice system, contending the prosecution's case largely rested on character assassination.

The prosecutors say on the night of the murder, Nov. 1, 2007, Knox and Sollecito met at the apartment where Kercher and Knox lived. They say a fourth person was there, Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast citizen who has been convicted in the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Guede, who is appealing his conviction, says he was in the house the night of the murder but did not kill Kercher.

The prosecution says Knox and Kercher started arguing and the three brutally attacked and sexually assaulted the Briton. They were acting, according to the prosecution, under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol."

They presented DNA evidence they said was linked to Knox and Sollecito, though these claims were disputed by the defense.

"You have to agree with the verdict. You have to go with the evidence, there's nothing else," Arline Kercher, the victim's mother, said of the verdict.

As part of the ruling, Kercher's parents were awarded euro1 million ($1.5 million) each in compensation, while euro800,000 ($1,200,440) were granted to Kercher's two brothers and sister each, said the family's lawyer, Francesco Maresca. He said this was only an initial sum. Maresca asked for a total of euro25 million ($38 million) from Knox, Sollecito and Guede, and he said this request would be discussed in a separate civil proceedings.

Kercher's family, however, stressed that they were not expecting to receive any money, but the high compensation was a symbol of the gravity of their crimes.

The pair also was convicted of illegally carrying a weapon — the knife — and of staging a burglary at the house where the murder occurred by breaking a window, supposedly in an effort to sidetrack the investigation.

Knox also was convicted of defaming a Congolese man whom she initially accused of the killing. He was jailed briefly but was later cleared. Knox said during the trial that police pressure led her to initially accuse an innocent man.