The bottom seems all but knocked out of the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The dramatic change in the fortunes of the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, who has been released from house arrest, is a result of the discovery that the Guinean hotel maid who accused him had told a string of lies about her background as well as her actions on the day of the alleged sexual assault. The ground-shifting revelations include her falsifying details in her application for political asylum, including fabricating a story about being raped and beaten up in Guinea; her telling an incarcerated drug dealer — the day after she levelled rape charges — that she could make money off the case; and her puzzling behaviour of entering another room after the alleged assault and returning to clean Mr. Strauss-Kahn's suite before reporting the incident. All of this may fall short of proving there was no attempted rape. Although called into question time and again, strictly speaking the reputation of a woman — including such things as her sexual or criminal history — is irrelevant in determining whether she was a victim of rape. However, given the nature of the heinous crime alleged, corroborative evidence is difficult to come by; as a result, courts depend a great deal on the credibility of the victim and her testimony.
In the Strauss-Kahn case, the forensic evidence establishes that a sexual encounter did take place in his Manhattan hotel suite. The issue was always whether this was consensual or forced. If the case does come up for trial, which seems unlikely at this juncture, the new revelations about the maid and her actions would leave any jury extremely sceptical that she was being truthful about what took place. Mr. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers are bound to portray him as a victim of an extortionist trap. If the case is given the burial that many now expect, the focus of attention will turn to Mr. Strauss-Kahn's political future. If he is cleared of all charges, his supporters will hope he will reclaim his position as the Socialist Party's front-runner for next year's French Presidential election. However, with the prosecution deciding to push on with the investigation, Mr. Strauss-Kahn could be running out of time. His party's primary for selecting its candidate to contest against President Nicolas Sarkozy is to take place in October. It also remains to be seen whether the slew of reports about his extra-marital affairs and his habit of making unwelcome advances, which appeared in the media soon after he was charged with attempted rape, will retard a quick and complete political rehabilitation.
Keywords: Strauss-Kahn case, French Presidential election
It is quite apparent that the US administration does not want Mr.Kahn running for presidency nor continue at IMF and they seem to have done their bit in 'influencing' matters to their advantage. If it was consensual, Mr.Kahn has only himself to blame, he should have known better.
There is so much talk about the 'credibility' of the victim but the credibility of the accused is also important. I see DSK as a power hungry politician with a taste for sexual encounters. He is a logical predator for the sort of charge brought here. I think the most important piece of evidence will be the tape recording in which the victim talks to a friend and clearly didn't know she was being taped. Did she speak of monetary gain from a scam or did she (as her attorney says) recount the crime in the same way that she told police it happened? We don't know. It will come out in a civil trial if it favors her account and money may be the only justice she gets.
Some of the reporting / editorials around this subject has been very revealing. No one seems to raise the question of - if it is consensual, why did he leave the hotel in a rush and tried to catch a plane - he had to be arrested from the plane. And, by hotel accounts, he had toothpaste in his face. All, signs of a man in a hurry, but why? Let us wait to hear the outcome of the prosecution.
It seems that Kahn is a victim of a political conspiracy as he is still a popular man.If he is cleared it will be great setback to President Sarkozy.
When someone is to be destroyed, they know how to implicate him and when the job is over, they would also help one's rehabilitation. This is the way International espionage and such things have been all along and woman is the most potent weapon to be employed. To establish rape only on the statement of the alleged victim is not sufficient anymore.
Even if the case goes to trial, the defence is going to win it hands down. All that the defence has to do is raise a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors obout the credibility of the alleged victim. What credibility does a habitual liar have, even if what she says happend in the hotel suite may be true?
The defendant may have character flaws. (Who doesn't?) He may have even been a sexual predator in the past. But his past is not on trial here. The French electorate would have had a chance to weigh his past in the event of his becoming a candidate for president, if the prosecution had done a thorough investigation of the alleged victim's charges against him. Instead, it bulldozed the legal process to get him indicted. And the American media, deplorably, went along with the prosecution story. Their over-enthusiasm to trash the French (Old Europe?) brought a Frenchman's stellar career in the IMF to an abrupt end. They also jeopardised his chance to be the next French president.
The maid in this case had committed many illegal acts in the past. She also may have committed some legal missteps after being attacked. But that does not negate the validity her principal charge against the powerful ex-chief of IMF.
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