A French woman will bring legal action this week for attempted rape against the former IMF head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her lawyer said on Monday in an interview published online.
Tristane Banon, a journalist and writer, “is lodging a complaint for attempted rape against Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn”, the lawyer, David Koubbi, was quoted as saying by news magazine L'Express on its website.
“I will send the complaint tomorrow, Tuesday July 5, to the prosecutor, who will receive it on Wednesday morning.”
The announcement came as Mr. Strauss-Kahn had high hopes of being cleared in another sex assault case, which saw him arrested and charged with trying to rape a New York hotel maid and cost him his job as head of the IMF.
Ms. Banon (32), has alleged that Mr. Strauss-Kahn invited her to an apartment in 2003 promising to give her an interview, and instead pounced on her like “a rutting chimpanzee”.
She made that allegation in 2007 on television and in an interview with a news website, but had not so far made a formal complaint to authorities. Mr. Koubbi said in the wake of Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arrest that Ms. Banon had previously been persuaded not to take action by her mother, a regional councillor in Mr. Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party.
