A French prosecutor on Monday opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of rape in a Washington hotel by former IMF chief and one-time French presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The move by the prosecutor in Lille in northern France followed a request by investigating judges earlier this month to broaden a suspected prostitution probe to examine the claims of rape in December 2010.
Strauss-Kahn is already the target of another investigation in his native France, this one involving an alleged prostitution ring in Lille. While the former IMF leader admits to “libertine” behavior, he says that prostitution was not a factor.
It’s like Dominique Stauss-Kahn never left!
“I never want to be in public but I have no choice,” Diallo told ABC News, adding “Now, I have to be in public. I have to, for myself. I have to tell the truth.”
We don’t know for certain what happened in that room, but it’s unfortunate when an accuser in a rape case has to come forward to the media to attempt to set the record straight. How do you guys feel about this situation? It started out complex and now it’s publicly spilled onto the cover of Newsweek — like a really unfortunate version of “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.” A lot to handle.
For a person who has already been violated once, all the media exposure violates them again. We have a strong tradition of defendant’s rights. But if you’re a victim, you have fewer rights than an accused person.National Center for Victims of Crime executive director Mai Fernandez • Offering an argument against the idea of naming the victim in high-profile rape cases like that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. There’s a good point in this — we do everything to cover the stories of high-profile sexual assault cases — but we never name the victim, even when we note every other detail about their lives, down to their money problems. The tradition of not naming the victim in cases like this one, which stretches back a century, is getting fresh scrutiny in the wake of new details in the Strauss-Kahn case. One guy getting some airtime as a result of these new revelations is Alan Dershowitz, a defense lawyer most famous for the O.J. Simpson trial, who says that the practice saddles the defendant with the presumption of guilt — especially when, as in the case of Strauss-Kahn, they take a perp walk. What do you guys think? Is Alan barking up the wrong tree? source (via • follow)
It will be very hard to believe in the future what African people say. She has to repent if she’s lying.Nigerian Imam Nurudeen Sulayman • Discussing the NYC African community’s feelings on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn accuser — especially among Guineans. To put it simply, they worry that it reflects badly on their community. The new developments around the accuser, who reportedly called a prison inmate and talked to him about extorting Strauss-Kahn in a rare dialect of Fulani, have put unwelcome attention on fellow Guineans in the city. “It’s about the two of them,” said Mamadou Diallo, president of the Futa Islamic Center, where the accuser reportedly attended services. “All we can do is stand still and watch.” source (via • follow)
Our concern is that the Manhattan district attorney is too afraid to try this case. We believe he’s afraid he’s going to lose this high-profile case.Lawyer Kenneth Thompson, who represents Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s accuser • Describing the issues currently clouding the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape trial. If you read the document, it notes a few things which could damage the victim’s credibility in a court of law — meaning that, even if the French politician actually did assault her (Thompson claims that the physical evidence still supports her case), there are inconsistencies which could damage her case in the eyes of a jury. These inconsistencies show up both in her backstory and her story of the moments before and after the alleged assault, and have been documented in this letter the New York Times posted earlier. All of this is to say that this may be an issue of perception — an assault may still have taken place. But purely circumstantial reasons could hurt the prosecutor’s ability to get a conviction. source (via • follow)
He will get his bail money back. He won’t be able to travel freely, however, and will be restricted in his travels. This whole mess kinda unspun fairly quickly — with more twists than an episode of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”
» Harsh words for the opposition: George Papandreou, the leader of the Socialist Party, had this to say towards the opposition New Democrats in the heat of the all-important vote: “All of Europe knows that your party is responsible for the current situation.” The vote, which only one member of parliament on either side crossed lines for, means that the country will receive a $17 billion rescue plan to make it through the Summer, with a second, much larger one in the works. Meanwhile, outside parliament, large-scale protests continued unabated.
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» 48-hour general strike called: With Greece facing a difficult austerity vote today, protesters have shown up by the thousands outside of the country’s parliament. The strike has shut down most public services, including transit. Airports and hospitals have also suffered the deep effects of the strikes. The passage of the measures, however, is key — a large loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund rests on their passage. If they don’t get it, they risk going into default, which would be very bad.
rachelinbrooklyn asks: Can someone explain to me what this means, and why it’s incriminating?
» SFB says: It’s not so much that it was incriminating, so much as revealing. Basically, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, being the leader of the International Monetary Fund, was subject to a form of immunity from prosecution, meaning that when he’s on official business in other countries (i.e. diplomacy), he’s not subject to the host country’s laws. Which of course would be good for him, because he’s been charged with rape. However, this claim was thrown out by the U.S. State Department, because they say he wasn’t on official business. Were he in another country, standards might be different and he might’ve gotten off without charges. — Ernie @ SFB
(Source: courts.state.ny.us)
Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrest transcripts released: We did some quick digging through the document and cut out the key line for you. That’s right, he declared diplomatic immunity.
While not everyone believes that a government was involved, the limited information out there suggests that the system was hacked using “spear-phishing” — which involves a sophisticated scam on a specific person.
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