PARIS-NEW YORK – Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been hit with a complaint of attempted rape in France.
US sex assault charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn may be lifted this month. In Paris, however, French writer Tristane Banon filed a legal complaint alleging Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in 2003, when she was 22, according to her lawyer David Koubbi.
Banon, an author and journalist, gave a graphic account in a 2007 TV talk show of her allegation Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her during an interview in a Paris apartment. Yesterday was the first time she has taken legal action.
Her complaint will be examined by a judge who, as a matter of course, would question both Banon and Mr Strauss-Kahn, sending investigators to the US if necessary, before deciding to either place the Frenchman under investigation or dismiss the case.
In yet another twist to the saga, the hotel maid who accused Mr Strauss-Kahn in May of trying to rape her is to sue the New York Post and four of its journalists for reporting that she was a prostitute.
Signs that the US charges are unravelling have set off a round of political sparring that threatens to poison the run-up to an April 2012 presidential election that Mr Strauss-Kahn had been tipped to win for the left.
His abrupt reversals of fortune have angered many French, who viewed his parading before cameras, unshaven and handcuffed, in New York as a gross violation of his rights.
French left-wingers, furious their star candidate has been all but knocked out of the election race, dismissed the Banon complaint as more evidence that Mr Strauss-Kahn’s foes were determined to bring him down.
“Strauss-Kahn’s destiny has been snatched from him,” said Socialist deputy Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, a close ally of Mr Strauss-Kahn. “All his friends are asking how it is possible that a man who is director of the IMF and a presidential candidate finds himself in prison a few days before he submits his candidacy.”
Asked about Banon’s allegation, her televised account of which had Mr Strauss-Kahn’s name bleeped out, Mr Cambadelis said: “This is manipulation by a young woman who wants to extort funds from Dominique through a rape complaint.” Mr Koubbi told French television that talk of a plot against Mr Strauss-Kahn was “nonsense”.
Mr Strauss-Kahn plans to bring a counter-claim against Banon, his lawyer said on Monday, a routine response in France when a legal complaint is filed against a party who denies misconduct.
The Banon case may fizzle out after a preliminary inquiry, unless the judge deems there is tangible evidence of an attempted sexual assault. Given the years that have elapsed since the alleged incident, there could be little aside from witnesses’ conflicting statements to hold up a court case.
Regardless of the outcome, opinion polls since the weekend suggest that more than half of French voters think Mr Strauss-Kahn’s political career is over.
François Hollande, the left’s new election frontrunner, was dragged into the imbroglio yesterday when he was asked during a trip to Martinique to respond to Banon’s allegation that he had known about the 2003 incident and encouraged her at the time to press charges.
“I really want to put a stop to this controversy, rumours and gossip,” Mr Hollande told reporters in Fort-de-France.
“This is all becoming quite unbearable.” – (Reuters)