( CNN ) -- Amanda Knox 's former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito took the stand in an Italian court Wednesday , defending himself at a retrial in the 2007 killing of British exchange student Meredith Kercher . `` I would like to make you understand that these charges against me are absurd , '' he said . `` There was not a basis to charge me , to put me in jail . ... I do n't wish anybody on Earth to go through what I went through . '' He said that evidence against him -- a knife that was a key part of the prosecution 's case -- was `` an illusion . '' `` I ask you ... to really look at reality , '' he implored the judges . `` For me , it 's a nightmare that goes beyond imagination , '' Sollecito said of what he 's been through . `` Right now , I do n't have a real life . '' Sollecito , 29 , is not testifying in the case , which is being heard in an appeals court in Florence . But he made a spontaneous declaration , which is the right of any defendant in an Italian trial , and he is not under oath . He and Knox were convicted in 2009 of killing Kercher , 21 , who was found stabbed in November 2007 in the villa that she and Knox rented in the central Italian university town of Perugia . Their convictions were overturned in 2011 for `` lack of evidence . '' But Italy 's Supreme Court decided last year to retry the case , saying the jury that acquitted them did n't consider all the evidence and discrepancies in testimony needed to be answered . Both Knox , 26 , and Sollecito have maintained their innocence . Afraid to return . The retrial began on September 30 without either of them present in court . The presiding judge , Alessandro Nencini , read out the details of the case , including the conviction of Ivory Coast citizen Rudy Guede for his role in Kercher 's murder . Knox returned to her hometown of Seattle after her acquittal and has been living there since . She says she is afraid to return to Italy , where she spent four years behind bars . Sollecito was in the Dominican Republic at the start of the retrial but returned to Italy . He and Knox made several spontaneous declarations throughout the original trial and first appeal . But only Knox testified . Knox is crippled with fear . DNA tests . The court hearing Wednesday is expected to address new DNA tests of the knife that prosecutors say was used to kill Kercher . The knife was a critical piece of evidence in the original trial . The tests involve a small portion of the knife . According to recent Italian media reports , the tests rule out the possibility that Kercher 's DNA is present in the sample . That would support Knox and Sollecito 's case . The results are expected to be revealed in court Wednesday . Written conclusions by forensic experts have already been filed in Florence . The Italian authorities who examined the spot on the knife are expected to present their report . They will then be questioned by all parties . Knox is n't the only person watching the retrial from afar . Citing health reasons , Kercher 's relatives said in September that they had decided not to return to Italy for the retrial . The family said it would follow closely from Britain and remain in close contact with lawyers . CNN 's Hada Messia contributed to this report .
NEW : Raffaele Sollecito implores judges `` to really look at reality '' He is not a witness and any statement would not be under oath . He and Knox were acquitted in 2011 , but the case is back before an appeals court . Knox has stayed in the United States ; she says she 's afraid to return to Italy .