Amanda Knox’s Ex-Boyfriend Stopped At Italy’s Border

Police found Raffaele Sollecito at a hotel near Italy’s border with Slovenia and Austria after he and Knox were convicted of murder for a second time

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Maurizio Degl'Innocenti / EPA

Raffaele Sollecito leaves the court in Florence, Jan. 30, 2014.

Italian police detained Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito — who, along with Knox, was convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher for a second time on Thursday — near Italy’s border with Austria and Slovenia early on Friday.

Giovanni Belmonte, the cabinet chief of the Udine police station, told the Associated Press that Sollecito was found in a hotel about 40 kilometers from the border. A Florence court sentenced Sollecito, who occasionally made appearances at his and Knox’s retrial, to 25 years in jail for the 2007 murder. A judge in the case ordered him to surrender his passport and identity card, but there was no immediate order for his arrest, reports the AP.

The police who detained Sollecito said they questioned him, confiscated his passport and stamped his identity papers, indicating that he could not leave the country. He was then released. As for Knox, who was sentenced to 28 years, she is currently in her hometown, Seattle. It’s unclear whether Italy will make a request to the U.S. for her extradition.

[Associated Press]