Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- In a ruling read to a tension-filled courtroom, an Italian jury on Monday cleared Amanda Knox of murder and other charges, nearly four years after she was arrested on suspicion of having killed her roommate in this picturesque Italian university town.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom as the verdict was read, then an eruption of emotion, prompting the judge to call for silence. Knox herself was nearly hysterical, according to CNN's Matthew Chance, and had to be assisted out of the courtroom by two people.

The jury evidently believed Knox's impassioned final statement to the court, delivered in a voice trembling with emotion.

"I am not what they say I am -- perverse, violent. , I haven't murdered. I haven't raped. I haven't stolen," Knox said in the most important speech of her life. Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, was also cleared of involvement in the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student and Knox's roommate in Perugia.

"We're thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over," Knox's sister, Deanna, said on the courthouse steps, getting a roar of approval from the crowd. "She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit."
Deanna Knox thanked her sister's attorneys and "people who took the time to research the case and could see that Amanda and Raffaele were innocent," for supporting the Knox family.

The same jury, however, upheld Knox's conviction on the charge of defamation against Patrick Lumumba, an early suspect in the case. She had accused club owner Lumumba of killing Kercher.

Lumumba was arrested, but released after his alibi checked out. He later sued Knox, winning 40,000 euros ($54,000) in damages. Knox was sentenced Monday to three years on the defamation charge , but received credit for the years she has already spent behind bars, said her attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova.

"We're satisfied with the decision of the court," Dalla Vedova told CNN. "We were expecting the rectification of this mistake."

He said Knox is ready to go home, but has said she will return to Italy.

"She always confirmed she was a friend of Meredith," he said.

As the verdict was read in court, Kercher's family grew emotional.

"We respect the decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned," the Kerchers said in a statement, issued through a journalist close to the family, after returning to their hotel on Monday. "We still trust the Italian judicial system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge."

Some of those gathered outside were unhappy with the ruling, shouting "Shame! Shame!"

Among those outside the court were a handful of college-age Italians and Americans, including two young Italian men who told CNN they disagreed with the ruling and believe Knox and Sollecito are guilty. One of them, Frederico Finali, 18, is a student at the same university Kercher attended. Finali said he is studying international communications.

"I am very upset with Italian justice," said a woman who gave her name as Veronica and said she is a fourth-year law student in Perugia. The legal process, she said, had gone "very, very bad."

"This family needs some justice," she said of the Kerchers, "and more important, you know, the real truth of the story." She said a majority of those in Perugia "absolutely" agree with her, adding, "I'm not satisfied."

What The Fu<k !!!

wot do U mean by "what d f**k"
Do you think dat d gal is guity?

Nonsense.

callydon:

wot do U mean by "what d bleep"
Do you think dat d gal is guity?

Absolutely!

They've heaped it all on the black guy as usual now. All 3 are guilty in my opinion.

WTF! She did it man! The black pot-head may have acted but she was the brain.

her complicity in the murder is crystal clear.she and her guy should be convicted for that and for failing to report the incident to the police
that ivorien needs to be cut a deal to have his sentence reduced if he confesses the names of all who were in the room at the time of the murder
btw, is there no supreme court in italy? this judgement is bad as it means there is no justice for the good i.e meredith

This is fu[i]c[/i]king ridiculous. An accomplice to murder and she gets off free just by bitching and lying enough.

the italian judicial system is a complete disgrace -how is it that these two murderers have been allowed to get away with this - could it be because they are white and middle class?

does it mean that the black guy alone raped and murdered meredith?

knox tried the age old trick of pinning everthing on the other black guy knowing full well that the western judicial system is weighed heavily against blacks - unfortunately for her it didnt work - it might have probably worked in america where hundreds of black men go to jail for crimes they never committed.

so knox and her ex boyfriend walk free while the black scape goat rots in jail