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Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Toulouse at a meeting for the 2007 French presidential election.

The Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case involves the ongoing criminal prosecution of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the United States for the alleged sexual assault and attempted rape of a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York Hotel on May 14, 2011. He has denied all the allegations, and his attorney has characterized the evidence as not being consistent with forcible encounter.

At the time of the alleged attack, Strauss-Kahn was the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and considered to be a leading candidate for the 2012 French Presidency. As a result of the allegations, and other publicity about his previous affairs with women, he resigned from his IMF post. He says that he intends to devote all of his time and energy to proving his innocence. Some worry that the accusations and his retirement have potentially "changed the course of European and global history."

On May 19, Strauss-Kahn was indicted by a grand jury to stand trial on all 7 criminal charges filed. He faces up to 25 years in prison on the most serious charge, if convicted. Strauss-Kahn's wife, Anne Sinclair, posted a $1 million bail bond and he was placed under house arrest. The next court hearing is scheduled for June 6, 2011.

Alleged attack and arrest

On May 14, 2011, Strauss-Kahn was arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a hotel maid at the Sofitel New York Hotel in Manhattan earlier that day. After calling the hotel asking to have them bring his missing cell phone to the airport, he was met by police and taken from his Paris-bound flight at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport minutes before takeoff and was later charged on several counts, including attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. Strauss-Kahn was held at a police precinct prior to his initial court appearance.

According to the woman's account, while she was cleaning his suite Strauss-Kahn lunged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom. She alleged that she was sexually assaulted, but eventually fought him off and told hotel staff about the incident, who then called police. Strauss-Kahn may have been injured in the course of her escape. Police later collected forensic evidence from the hotel suite. A rape kit was used to obtain evidence from the alleged victim.

On May 16, Strauss-Kahn appeared in New York City Criminal Court before Judge Melissa Carow Jackson. A prosecutor said that the housekeeper had provided a detailed account of the alleged assault, had picked Strauss-Kahn out of a lineup, and that DNA evidence recovered at the site was being tested. Strauss-Kahn, who had earlier agreed to a forensic examination, entered a plea of not guilty to the seven criminal counts. After an initial defense request for $1 million bail had been rejected due to concerns of his being a flight risk, he was remanded to jail.

Indictment and pre-trial

On May 19, 2011, Strauss-Kahn was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on seven criminal counts, the most serious of which is Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, a class B violent felony (two counts). These two counts are punishable by a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. If he were sentenced consecutively, he could face a maximum sentence of 74 years on all counts; however, when multiple charges arise for a single criminal event, the maximum sentence is generally limited to that of the most serious charge.

The United States State Department conducted a legal review to determine that Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity.

Strauss-Kahn has hired New York lawyer Benjamin Brafman as his defense attorney. He is also reportedly seeking public relations advice from a Washington-based consulting firm.

At the same hearing, New York State Supreme Court Judge, Michael Obus, conditioned his release on $1 million cash-bail, with 24-hour per day home detention with electronic monitoring. After Strauss-Kahn turned over his passport and posted an additional $5 million bail bond, he was placed under house arrest on May 20, 2011.

Strauss-Kahn's release was delayed until the 20 May after residents of an apartment building, where his wife had organised accommodation, registered a complaint. He initally moved to an apartment maintained by the security guard company contracted to monitor him. On May 25, he moved to a four-bedroom brick town house in Tribeca awaiting trial.

Brafman stated in the initial bail application that "The forensic evidence, we believe, are not consistent with forcible encounter" and following his statement there has been a consensus among legal analysts that the defense will argue "consensual sex" occurred.

French reaction

Many notable politicians in France, along with the general public, strongly criticized the U.S. media for its handling of Strauss-Kahn after the event. According to Hugh Schofield of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), images of his arrest by newspapers and television "provoked a national trauma in France far deeper than anyone could have imagined," and might serve to awaken "anti-Americanism that is latent in many French souls. ... such humiliating pictures would never be taken in France - indeed the law bans 'degrading' photographs of prisoners awaiting trial."

Former French justice minister Élisabeth Guigou claimed that the media's images of Strauss-Kahn at the police station the morning after his arrest were an expression of "unheard-of brutality, cruelty and violence". Strauss-Kahn's socialist friends were "unanimous in their condemnation of the way Strauss-Kahn has been treated in the U.S.", including party leader Martine Aubry who reportedly broke down in tears. Jack Lang, a former Minister of Culture and Minister of Education, said he couldn't understand why Strauss-Kahn had been refused bail since "no-one had died," and described the published images of Strauss-Kahn as a "lynching."

Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National, described Strauss-Kahn as un harceleur quasi-pathologique ("a near-pathological harasser") and lambasted both the ruling UMP and Socialist parties for ignoring his flaws. Bernard Debré, a UMP member of the National Assembly of France, remarked that the allegations were "a humiliation for France abroad and for French politics."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (former socialist, leader of the Left Party) and Benoît Hamon (French politician, member of the Socialist Party) were amongst some 15,000 people who signed a petition protesting sexism in the wake of the scandal.

Strauss-Kahn's wife, Anne Sinclair, was in Paris when he was arrested. The following day she issued a statement backing her husband, before flying to Manhattan where she stood surety for his $1 million bail. In response to questions, Sinclair stated, "I don’t believe for a single second the accusations of sexual assault by my husband." Despite these "new strains" in their 20-year marriage, friends of the couple said their relationship remained strong, and that the allegations were unlikely to separate them. His second wife, Brigitte Guillemette, said it was "unthinkable and impossible that he would have raped a chambermaid."

Immediately following the arrest, there was speculation in mainstream media and social networking sites such as Twitter that Strauss-Kahn might have been the victim of a setup.. In an interview with Libération on April 28, 2011, Strauss-Kahn himself had stated that he was "worried his political opponent, Nicolas Sarkozy, would try to frame him with a fake rape...". Paris politician and noted advocate of gender equality Michèle Sabban said she was convinced there was an international plot to frame him. Strauss-Kahn's political opponents also expressed doubts: Henri de Raincourt, a minister from the ruling UMP party, stated "one cannot exclude thinking about a setup."

Two days after his arrest, a poll found that some 57% of the French public believed he was the "victim of a smear campaign". Le Monde commented that the poll was a violation of the law Guigou, which protects the rights of a person under investigation, calling the conspiracy theories a sign of a "democracy in regression".

On May 17, Paris Match published the name of the alleged victim. It reported that there were conflicting accounts of her physical attractiveness. It said that Strauss-Kahn lawyers were surprised to find her très peu séduisante ("very unattractive") but quoted a taxi-driver as saying she had de gros seins et de belles fesses ("big tits and a nice ass").

As a result of the extensive publicity in France, women who have had intimate relations with Strauss-Kahn have offered personal impressions. French porn star Natasha Kiss, for one, claims that she had sex with him, but insists that "he behaved like a gentleman." She spoke during an interview in Paris:

"He was very nice. He wasn't a randy old man or hungry for women as he has been depicted. . .He was very kind, educated, he didn't behave like a drooling dog as can often happen (with other men). He treated us with kindness, he cuddled me. I know men, and he was not the violent type. . . He's just a playboy, that's all."

American reaction

Cameras and reporters in front of the Strauss-Kahn apartment on May 26, 2011

The case has generated intense interest in American mainstream media and on social networking sites such as Twitter. On May 16, CBS News announced that a media circus had begun because the case involved three elements of viewer interest: sex, politics, and money. On May 26, Strauss-Kahn's lawyers complained in a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. that leaks, believed to have originated from the New York Police Department, were feeding a "media-frenzy".

Slate.fr was criticized for identifying the victim by name. In the United States, the media common practice has been not to identify by name persons making an accusation of rape. The alleged victim was first identified in the French press by Paris Match on May 17 and other newspapers quickly followed suite including the prestigious Le Monde, considered the French newspaper of record. These newspaper reports, which eventually included photographs and details of the alleged victim's personal life, even descriptions of her physical attractiveness, were condemned in numerous American blogs.

Resignation and impact

As a result of the allegations, and after being pressured by leading economic officials, Strauss-Kahn resigned from his position as head of the International Monetary Fund on May 18, 2011. In his letter of resignation he denied "with the greatest possible firmness" the allegations, saying that his resignation was to protect the institution.

Economic

His sudden resignation has led the IMF to search for a replacement, along with creating new political concerns. According to the Washington Post, "Without Strauss-Kahn at the helm, Europe is at risk of losing a key source of financial support in its efforts to contain the debt crisis buffeting the continent", including potential financial bailouts for nations such as Greece and Portugal. U.S. economist Joseph Stiglitz agrees, stressing that because Strauss-Kahn was "an impressive leader of the IMF and re-established the credibility of the institution," the choice of his replacement is important, otherwise "the gains of the institution could easily be lost."

According to The Economist, before Strauss-Kahn became head of the IMF, the fund's relevance to global finance was in question. However, his early endorsement of fiscal stimulus for the Eurozone during its financial crisis was accepted and acted upon, with new contributions to the fund being tripled in size. "The Greeks trusted him", writes The Economist, and he was "one of the few non-German policymakers to have had influence over Angela Merkel." "Whatever his personal failings, was an outstanding head of the IMF." In addition, he championed the need to protect poor countries from the effects of fiscal austerity, helping the IMF become "kinder and gentler" to less developed countries. As a result of his arrest, the IMF is in "turmoil," and the choice of his replacement has become "more urgent and more complicated."

Political

Though he had not officially declared his candidacy, Strauss-Kahn had been expected to be a leading candidate for the 2012 French Presidency under the Socialist Party. Preliminary polling suggested he was favored to defeat the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, but Strauss-Kahn's arrest has left the French Socialist Party unsure of how to proceed. However, The Economist, for one, notes that he was "the candidate with the greatest chance of bringing the Palaeolithic French Socialists into the modern age."

Francesco Sisci, Director of the Institute of Italian Culture in Beijing, noted in Asia Times Online that if Strauss-Kahn were to become France's president, "he could bank on his experience and lead not only France but also Europe. He could also rely on the US's trust, gained at the IMF and before, that he would not turn the European Union into an anti-American stronghold."

References

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