Head Of I.M.F. Arrested In New York And Accused Of Sexual Attack

[DP25]

The NY Post says that now he is claiming that he DID have sex, but that the maid "consented":

I would not be surprised if the next thing we hear is the maid has dropped all charges and DSK is happily winging his way to France, sipping champagne.

The maid will be winging her way to her home country having just hit the New York State Lottery.

I think even if they did pay her off, the state will still prosecute

[SteeleJoe]

The NY Post says that now he is claiming that he DID have sex, but that the maid "consented":

I would not be surprised if the next thing we hear is the maid has dropped all charges and DSK is happily winging his way to France, sipping champagne.

The maid will be winging her way to her home country having just hit the New York State Lottery.

I think even if they did pay her off, the state will still prosecute

If they feel they have sufficient evidence and she tries to recant, I suspect they could charge her with either filing a false charge or obstructing justice and possibly would at least threaten to do so.

[lovetotravel]

Oh come on LaoPo - why are you so strenuously defending this guy ?

Because he is obviously anti-American. His posting history proves this out.

Rape charges are taken very seriously in the US. And this charge would not have been applied if they didn't have excellent forensic evidence. It's too high profile for them to charge this guy without fool proof evidence. His retainer of the best lawyer money can buy proves this out. As does his quick exit from the US. If he had gotten away, he would have never been brought to justice as France would not have extradited him back to the US.

How many criminals who have been charged plead innocence? Pretty much every one.

As for parading him about? I agree it's not a good thing to do. But no different in many other countries. Not in France, though. Which is good.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It's a big deal as this guy was almost a shoe in for the presidency in France. Even though previous allegations similar to this have occurred. But these are not that important to the French. He pretty much admitted to being a womanizer.

[roamer]

Long, long way to go on this. Firstly the international lawyers are circling. It really is not as simple as people here seem to think, that he only enjoys what is termed "acts" immunity. That applies to officials of the IMF and other UN agencies. He is not simply an "official" He is the head of the IMF.

Article VI Section 21 of the UN Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies gives immu­nity to the exec­u­tive heads of the spe­cial­ized agen­cies.

"Acts" immunity.

Section 19

Officials of the specialized agencies shall:

(a) Be immune from legal process in respect of words spoken or written

and all acts performed by them in their official capacity.

Diplomatic immunity.

Section 21

In addition to the immunities and privileges specified in sections 19 and

20, the executive head of each specialized agency, including any official acting

on his behalf during his absence from duty, shall be accorded in respect of

himself, his spouse and minor children, the privileges and immunities, exemptions

and facilities accorded to diplomatic envoys, in accordance with international law.

Interestingly there is a precedent relating to rape and diplomatic immunity in, wait for it, New York.

"For example, in a 1983 case the New York City Police Department suspected a diplomat's son of 15 different rapes. The son was allowed to leave the United States without ever being taken to court because he claimed diplomatic immunity. If diplomatic immunity is used as a shield, the police cannot prosecute, no matter how serious the crime may be."

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Diplomatic+Immunity

In normal circumstances the procedure is to ask the country to waive diplomatic immunity (a diplomat can NOT waive his own immunity) and in many cases this would be done. (Not so in the case of Libya in 1984 where Libya refused to waive immunity for the killers of a police officer during a protest at the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984. The police were not allowed to question them, they were declared personna non grata and escorted to the airport.)

Of course the IMF could be asked to waive diplomatic immunity (further problems there though)but the fact remains they were not asked to do so. That very fact might mean a walk to freedom for DSK.

If its established that he did enjoy diplomatic immunity then there is no question that his arrest was illegal, any questioning was illegal. Now you enter US domestic law because if it follows that the arrest was illegal....?

I bet there are a few folk in the US State Dept holding their heads in their hands, not many people there like to play with the idea stepping on diplomatic immunity, quid pro quo etc.

Long way to go...

[LaoPo]

Oh come on LaoPo - why are you so strenuously defending this guy ?

Because he is obviously anti-American. His posting history proves this out.

Says the member since 2 months, with 69 posts, who doesn't even know me

LaoPo

Edited May 17, 2011 by LaoPo

[LaoPo]

I see the French are acting as one might expect. The comments by the readers are also as might be expected.

Of course they act as one might have expected; the question is WHO expected what?

You don't seem to know that Europeans along with many other countries around the world, and in this case the French in particular, are NOT used to handle suspects immediately as criminals, handcuff them and parading/perp walk* them by Police officers in front of cameras and journalistsn as a kind of trophee.

In fact, it is unlawful police behavior in France and NOT allowed; the same as in other European countries.

That this PERP WALK (since the Enron case) became normal behavior by the various Police departments in the USA doesn't necessarily mean that the Police- and jurisdictional system in the US is the perfect one which has to be understood and followed by all other cultures and nations. On the contrary!

Don't forget that the US has a much smaller population than Europe's 700 million.

What Does Perp Walk Mean?

A slang term describing the police action of parading an arrested suspect in handcuffs before the media.

Investopedia explains Perp Walk

Short for "perpetrator walk," this is a practice with which many people disagree, considering these re-staged arrests to be merely media spectacles that violate the suspects' rights. Both former head of Adelphia, 78-year-old John Rigas, and ex-WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan turned themselves in when they were being investigated. Despite their requests, law enforcement still invited the media to watch the former executives being handcuffed and hauled in.

http://www.investope.../p/perpwalk.asp

I think, and many with me, it is a disgusting way of showing off a SUSPECT to the press and America unworthy.

Even in America a person is "innocent until proven guilty".

LaoPo

[SteeleJoe]

Police departments in the USA doesn't necessarily mean that the Police- and jurisdictional system in the US is the perfect one which has to be understood and followed by all other cultures and nations. On the contrary!

No one has suggested anything of the sort. (You've employed what's known as a Straw Man -- again).

Right or wrong (the reasons behind it have been discussed but you choose to ignore them) the fact is, it IS standard and there's no reason this guy gets treated differently.

Of course they act as one might have expected; the question is WHO expected what?

Why does that matter? Should the Americans care what the French expect any more than the reverse?

Nope.

[Ulysses G.]

Oh come on LaoPo - why are you so strenuously defending this guy ?

Because he is obviously anti-American. His posting history proves this out.

Says the member since 2 months, with 69 posts, who doesn't even know me

Maybe he went back and read your posting history - since he does mention it. Quite a few posters who have been here forever say the same thing.

Edited May 17, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[LaoPo]

Oh come on LaoPo - why are you so strenuously defending this guy ?

Because he is obviously anti-American. His posting history proves this out.

Says the member since 2 months, with 69 posts, who doesn't even know me

Maybe he went back and read your posting history - since he does mention it. Quite a few posters who have been hear forever say the same thing.

I feel flattered someone puts so much reading into my "Active Posts 14,798"; I wonder how much time it cost him

Did he read you too?

Edit:

member Lovetotravel did NOT visit my Profile lately (since he became a member) but you did....yesterday. I'm flattered.

On the other hand, one never knows if there are returning banned members; some people know....

LaoPo

Edited May 17, 2011 by LaoPo

[cdnvic]

Drop the personal shots and get on with the story please.

[Ulysses G.]

The plot thickens.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn behaved aggressively toward a young female journalist and novelist, Tristane Banon, in 2002, according to the newspaper Le Parisien and other Web sites, and corroborated by Ms. Banon herself in a 2007 television interview on Paris Première, a cable channel. At the time, she said that a French politician — whom she later said was Mr. Strauss-Kahn — had tried to rape her in an empty apartment in Paris after she had contacted him for a book she was writing.

“He wanted to grab my hand while answering my questions, and then my arm. We ended up fighting, since I said clearly, ‘No, no.’ We fought on the floor, I kicked him, he undid my bra, he tried to remove my jeans,” she said.

Afterward, she said that she had contacted a well-known lawyer who already had “a pile of files on Mr. Strauss-Kahn,” but that she never filed a complaint. “I didn’t dare; I didn’t wish to be the girl who had a problem with a politician for the rest of my life,” she said.

Her mother, Anne Mansouret, a Socialist, later confronted Mr. Strauss-Kahn and asked why he had attacked her daughter, she told Rue 89, an online newspaper. According to her, he responded: “I don’t know what happened, I went crazy.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/world/europe/16france.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&bl

[FOODLOVER]

I thought in the French and Italian political systems it was the activity of said pecker that gets you elected. If the tally whacker has a proclivity for escaping, be it with or without consent from the alleged victim then with all things said he is elected just because he is a healthy European. These countries are also well known for having ladies on the side, be them under age and so forth with out any real repercussions. So i get the uproar that a French man is arrested for Rape of a simple housekeeper as this is what she is there for, right? Ah the French way of thinking, Father of cuisine as well? Ha! The Chinese were doing there style of cooking thousands of years before the French even chuckled at Jerry Lewis. HEY LADY! Is apparently what he was screaming while the romance continued against this woman. Does it matter that she is black, white or purple? Absolutely not! He has already changed his story. Now he says it was consensual? Did he pay her? Was she angry that he only had American currency and preferred the Euro? A fellow poster said that this was a lynching. You might want to Google american history and lynching. I would post a photo but it is too horrific. He was arrested for a serious case and on his way out of town. Escape risk, HELL YES! Remember Roman Polanski the convicted child molester who drugged the kid and then raped her repeatedly. Well these fancy French fellows felt that this was not a big deal and refused to extradite. Great legal system there as well, and one other thing, Deodorant.

[LaoPo]

The plot thickens.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn behaved aggressively toward a young female journalist and novelist, Tristane Banon, in 2002, according to the newspaper Le Parisien and other Web sites, and corroborated by Ms. Banon herself in a 2007 television interview on Paris Première, a cable channel. At the time, she said that a French politician — whom she later said was Mr. Strauss-Kahn — had tried to rape her in an empty apartment in Paris after she had contacted him for a book she was writing.

"He wanted to grab my hand while answering my questions, and then my arm. We ended up fighting, since I said clearly, 'No, no.' We fought on the floor, I kicked him, he undid my bra, he tried to remove my jeans," she said.

Afterward, she said that she had contacted a well-known lawyer who already had "a pile of files on Mr. Strauss-Kahn," but that she never filed a complaint. "I didn't dare; I didn't wish to be the girl who had a problem with a politician for the rest of my life," she said.

Her mother, Anne Mansouret, a Socialist, later confronted Mr. Strauss-Kahn and asked why he had attacked her daughter, she told Rue 89, an online newspaper. According to her, he responded: "I don't know what happened, I went crazy."

http://www.nytimes.c...anted=2&_r=1

A story about the DSK case in the NY Times from May 15th is considered to be old news if it is now May 18th.....but not as old yet as the case you're saying that the plot is thickening about; that case is from 2002, 9 years ago and really old news in Europe and France in particular.

The particular girl in question never pressed charges but not only that, she was/is a friend of DSK's daughter.

Speaking about a plot....

Of course that doesn't mean that DSK isn't guilty, but as I said before, in America a suspect is considered to be "innocent until proven guilty", the same as in most civilized countries UG; would that be the same in Thailand ?

I wouldn't know but maybe you do?

LaoPo

[Ulysses G.]

This is not a court of law and being accused of rape more than once and changing his story does not look good for Mr. Strauss-Kahn.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[lomatopo]

Long, long way to go on this. Firstly the international lawyers are circling. It really is not as simple as people here seem to think, that he only enjoys what is termed "acts" immunity. That applies to officials of the IMF and other UN agencies. He is not simply an "official" He is the head of the IMF.

Article VI Section 21 of the UN Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies gives immu­nity to the exec­u­tive heads of the spe­cial­ized agen­cies.

"Acts" immunity.

Section 19

Officials of the specialized agencies shall:

(a) Be immune from legal process in respect of words spoken or written

and all acts performed by them in their official capacity.

Diplomatic immunity.

Section 21

In addition to the immunities and privileges specified in sections 19 and

20, the executive head of each specialized agency, including any official acting

on his behalf during his absence from duty, shall be accorded in respect of

himself, his spouse and minor children, the privileges and immunities, exemptions

and facilities accorded to diplomatic envoys, in accordance with international law.

Long way to go...

I think this old news (2 days, but years in these fast-moving stories), I am certain the IMF has already stated that since Monsieur was on personal business, paying his own way to visit his daughter, so any immunity is waived. Had he penciled in an appointment on Wall Street then perhaps we'd have a "long way to go"? The Manhattan DA, Cy Vance Jr., would not prosecute if there was any chance of blow-back' he is an elected official. We'll have to see what happens on Friday.

I think the perp walk can be avoided, provided you agree to surrender but this wasn't an option in this case. Evidently this has the French in a complete tizzy. I saw the video and it looked fine. Two well-dressed Detectives, Monsieur looked fine (hardly "worn and haggard") with any restraints hidden, also removed in court. Hard to figure what the big deal is; they see this stuff all the time on "New York unité spéciale", and "Les experts : Manhattan".

[geriatrickid]

One of the issues raised is that of the Perp walk. What occurred with the accused was unnecessary as it prejudiced public opinion and created the perception of guilt even though none had been proven. The typical accused child molestor, murderer or rapist in NYC are rarely paraded in such a public fashion. They are put in the NYPD wagon and brought in by the garage entrance. I have the impression that some of the police detectives were looking forward to having their work highlighted and their pictures making the papers. Perp walks in media are used as media events and its not professional conduct.

One can denigrate the French for their recoiling in horror over the perp walk, but they aren't the only country that respects the right to privacy of an accused. Perp walks are not common in Scandanavian counries. They aren't done in Canada either and they are frowned upon in the UK. It is understandable why some people would be disgusted by the media free for all associated with the criminal proceedings in NYC.

[midas]

and does the plot thicken even more as to why this rapacious bankster is being held

in the " West Facilty " ? ( Houses inmates with contagious diseases.) (just enter Strauss-Kahn in the last name box )

http://a073-ils-web.nyc.gov/inmatelookup/ils/pages/common/find.jsf

Edited May 18, 2011 by midas

[lomatopo]

I was not denigrating the French for their reaction to the perp walk, but rather expressing mirth at the reaction.

The French do not allow cameras in the courtroom, so courtroom coverage may have been even more upsetting for them? Personally I thought Monsieur looked much worse in the actual courtroom, than during the perp walk. I assume we will not consider banning coverage of the "criminal proceedings" in the courtroom just to keep from "disgusting" a few people?

I wouldn't read too much into the specific building he is being held in at Rikers. It is probably the safest place for him as he is on a suicide watch and needs to be observed periodically.

[koheesti]

Perp walk = disgusting!

Rape = ok?

[Credo]

The perp walk is an interesting situation. To the best of my knowledge, a great number of accused go through the same thing. The vast majority of them are no-name people who are of no interest to the press. The paddy-wagon full of prisons is used in some court houses where the prisoners are actually housed in cells inside the building awaiting arraignment.

The attitude of non-American posters is interesting and I think it would be wise for some high-level diplomatic pressue to be put on the US regarding this situation. New York in particular should be sensitive to the issue.

[FOODLOVER]

No anonymity in France for Strauss-Kahn's accuser

Name of NYC hotel maid who says IMF chief attacked her is published in Paris

The hotel maid who accuses International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her is a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea who told her brother, "somebody has done something really bad to me," according to media reports.

Her identity has been withheld in U.S. media publications, in accordance with standard journalistic practice. But media outlets in France, where Strauss-Kahn is from, began reporting her name Tuesday.

Relatives of the woman strongly denied accusations that she was part of a larger scheme aimed at discrediting Strauss-Kahn, a prominent politician in France’s Socialist Party who had been considered a front-runner to unseat President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"No, no, no! People must understand that … [she] is part of the Guinean Fulani community, and she is not interested in politics,” a relative told Slate.fr. “She has no right to vote in the U.S. and does not even participate in our Guinean political associations."

The woman's attorney, Jeffrey Shapiro, said Tuesday that "her life has been turned upside down." The woman is in seclusion but cooperating with prosecutors and police, Shapiro said.

"She can't go home. She can't go to work," he said.

People are worried that he had a perp walk! Holy Crap!

Edited May 18, 2011 by FOODLOVER

[luckizuchinni]

Oh come on LaoPo - why are you so strenuously defending this guy ?

Because he is obviously anti-American. His posting history proves this out.

Says the member since 2 months, with 69 posts, who doesn't even know me

LaoPo

It doesn't take posting alot to be able to read your posts and see that most of them slant to the anti-American camp. And yes, all of us have read your protestations that you are not, but we are free to make our own judgments based on the words you write, not on your protests.

Not that there is anything wrong with being anti-American. But just man up and admit it!

[churchill]

It is getting worse !!

The Maid Allegedly Raped By Strauss-Kahn Lives In Housing For Adults With HIV

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dominique-strauss-kahn-maid-aids-hiv-2011-5?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29#ixzz1MhKcAiMl

[midas]

It is getting worse !!

The Maid Allegedly Raped By Strauss-Kahn Lives In Housing For Adults With HIV

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dominique-strauss-kahn-maid-aids-hiv-2011-5?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29#ixzz1MhKcAiMl

and i thought they put him in the " West Facilty " because of his

previous position - keep him away from the rest of the zoo.

But this explains why

Edited May 18, 2011 by midas

[geriatrickid]

It is getting worse !!

The Maid Allegedly Raped By Strauss-Kahn Lives In Housing For Adults With HIV

Read more: http://www.businessi...9#ixzz1MhKcAiMl

and i thought they put him in the " West Facilty " because of his

previous position - keep him away from the rest of the zoo.

But this explains why

If he had been exposed to a known HIV carrier he would have received immediate treatment. The likelihood of contracting HIV based upon the allegations is not as significant as it seems. Unfortunately, this will only further the conspiracy theories that an HIV positive person was bent on revenge or used to take out someone. All in all, it is regrettable and a violation of the woman's basic right to privacy to report this aspect of the story. The woman should not have her life ripped apart by the media.

[Credo]

There has been so much said, but I thought at one point there was an accusation of sodomy.

I also read that there was blood found in the hotel room. Although these may not significantly increase the possibility of infection, it would be worrisome.

I wonder if he was given anti-retroviral treatment?

[mrdome]

I wrote on Sunday "it looks pretty bad for him" and today it looks even worse. At least those conspiracy theories were nipped in the bud fast thanks to the change from a "not guilty" plea to "DNA pointing to a consensual encounter".

[DP25]

There has been so much said, but I thought at one point there was an accusation of sodomy.

Oral sex is considered sodomy in some states, not just anal sex. It can make it confusing when reading media reports. Especially when it's something like a female sodomizing a male, when they mean she gave him a blowjob

[Credo]

Some points are starting to make sense. First, there was the reports about him denying a sexual encounter and this then went to a consensual encounter.

I wonder if he was told that the alleged victim may be an HIV+ person, but if he continued to deny any type of a sexual contact then there was no need for anti retroviral treatment? A request for treatment could cast doubt on his story.

Of course, if the encounter was consensual, they she can face prosecution (I think) for potentially infecting him.

Right or wrong, this man is in a very unenviable position.

[george]

This topic continues here:

IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns amid alleged sexual assault

Full story: