IMF chief to appear in New York court in sexual assault case

From Betwa Sharma
New York, May 16 (PTI) IMF chief Dominique Strauss-
Kahn Monday consented to medical examination as he prepared to
answer charges in court that he sexually assaulted a hotel
maid here in a case that has ravaged his reputation and sent
tremors in French politics.
Strauss-Kahn, a likely French presidential candidate
for 2012, was picked up out of a police lineup by the
chambermaid last night, who has accused him of molesting her,
according to media reports.
The 62-year-old IMF chief, who was handcuffed and
looked shaken, has denied the allegations and agreed for a
medical examination over charges of serious sexual assault.
Billed as the man who could hand out a poll defeat to
French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Strauss-Kahn was made to
deboard a Paris-bound flight and arrested Sunday by the New
York police which said he had no diplomatic immunity.
If convicted, Strauss-Kahn, father of four children,
could face a prison term of 15 to 20 years.
New York Times reported that his DNA evidence has been
taken from his USD 3000 a day hotel suite.
The French financial wizard's arraignment was put off
for a day after he agreed to forensic testing requested by the
police as his attorney Benjamin Brafman vowed that his client
proposed to fight charges of sexual assault.
"Our client has willingly consented to a scientific
and forensic examination," his lawyer William W Taylor III
said.
Wearing a black overcoat over a blue shirt and black
trousers, Strauss-Kahn avoided looking at the cameras as he
walked to a police car.
The maid, who has not been named by the police, said
she had entered the spacious Sofitel hotel suite thinking it
was unoccupied when Strauss-Kahn sprang on her naked from the
bathroom, ran after her and dragged her into his bedroom
before assaulting her.
He then dragged her into the bathroom where he forced
himself on her again before she broke free, the maid told the
police.
New York Police alleged that following the assault in
the Manhattan hotel, Strauss-Kahn quickly headed off to New
York airport to board a Paris-bound flight but left his
cellphone behind.
The IMF chief called the hotel from the airport,
inquiring about the phone, and this helped police track him to
the first class section of the Paris-bound flight.
He was charged with attempted rape, sexual assault and
unlawful imprisonment.
As he prepares to answer the charges here, a French
journalist-writer back home said she was working to slap a
similar complaint against the likely candidate for 2012
presidential race in France.

31-year old French novelist and journalist Tristane
Banon, who had in 2007 levelled allegations of sexual assault
on Strauss-Kahn on television, said she too was planning to
make a formal complaint.
"We're planning to make a complaint. I am working with
her," her lawyer David Koubbi said in Paris.
He said Banon had refrained from taking action earlier
after being persuaded by her mother, a regional councillor in
Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party.
After his arrest, the IMF chief was taken to a police
station in Harlem from where he was led away in handcuffs to a
waiting police car and taken to an undisclosed destination.
In a statement, his lawyer said, "Strauss-Kahn will
plead not guilty."
Before the incident, it was being widely speculated
that Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist politician, had a chance at
beating incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy, who is plagued
with all time low ratings.
Observers and rivals have said that the alleged
charges will ruin his chances at a political career.
Hours after Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York, the
International Monetary Fund announced that deputy managing
director John Lipsky will step in to replace the present
chief.
Lipsky, the IMF's first deputy managing director, who
now is the acting managing director, has been overseeing the
logistics of the Greek bailout and would meet members of the
IMF board in Washington later in the day.
The IMF has also postponed its executive board meeting
for a day following the developments.
"The tentatively scheduled informal briefing of the
executive board has been postponed pending further
developments in New York," IMF spokesman William Murray said
in a statement Sunday.
Germany, meanwhile, insisted that if Strauss-Kahn were
to resign, another European should ascend to the post.
"Europe doesn't have a right to the director's chair,
that's obvious. But in the current situation when the IMF is
especially needed to fight the crisis in some euro states, the
German government sees good reasons why there should be a good
European candidate" Germany's government spokesman Steffen
Seibert told a press conference in Berlin.