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| IMF Head Accused of Sexual Assault in N.Y.C. |
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International Monetary Fund chief and possible contender for French presidency, charged with assault on hotel maid
NEW YORK - The leader of the International Monetary Fund as well as a feasible candidate for president of France was arrested in New York Sunday in connection using the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid just after being yanked from a plane moments just before it was to depart, police said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, was awaiting arraignment on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. He had been taken off the Air France flight to Paris at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday afternoon by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was turned more than to New York police, mentioned Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, did not immediately respond to mobile phone or e mail messages searching for comment from The Linked Press. "We have not however been ready to meet with our client and we might have additional to say tomorrow," Brafman told The New York Occasions late Saturday.
France woke to the bombshell news Sunday to surprise in addition to a degree of caution. Online commentators questioned no matter whether the incident could have already been element of a smear campaign by the unpopular President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose political fortunes have been flagging, against his major rival in the race for next year's presidential elections.
The incident could fully shake up the race for president next year, and throw the long-divided Socialists back into disarray about whom they could present as a challenger to Sarkozy.
"It's a cross that can be tricky for him to bear," said Dominique Paille, a political rival to Strauss-Kahn on the center left, on BFM television.
"It's completely hallucinating. If it really is genuine, this will be a historic moment, but inside the negative sense, for French political life," Paille said. Nevertheless, he urged, "I hope that anyone respects the presumption of innocence. I cannot handle to feel this affair."
The 32-year-old woman told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1 p.m. Eastern time (1600 GMT) Saturday and he attacked her, Browne said. She mentioned she had been told to clean the spacious $3000-a-night-suite suite, which she had been told was empty.
According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She mentioned she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and attempted to remove her underwear. The lady was ready to break no cost yet again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had occurred, authorities stated. They known as police.
When detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had currently left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, Browne said. "It looked like he got out of there inside a hurry," Browne mentioned.
The NYPD discovered he was in the airport and contacted Port Authority officials, who plucked Strauss-Kahn from initial class on the Air France flight that was just about to leave the gate.
The maid was taken by police to a hospital and was being treated for minor injuries. John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, mentioned its staff was cooperating in the investigation.
Strauss-Kahn, a married father of 4, was briefly investigated in 2008 more than no matter whether he had an improper romantic relationship using a subordinate female employee. The IMF board found his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a severe error of judgment."
Caroline Atkinson, an IMF spokeswoman, issued a statement Sunday that mentioned the agency would have no comment on the New York situation. She referred all inquiries to Strauss-Kahn's personal lawyer and mentioned the "IMF remains fully functioning and operational."
Strauss-Kahn's offices in Paris couldn't be reached when the news broke overnight in France. 1 of his allies, Jean-Marie Le Guen, expressed doubt about the incident.
"The details as they've been reported nowadays have absolutely nothing to complete with the Dominique Strauss-Kahn that we know," Le Guen said on BFM tv. "Dominique Strauss-Kahn has never ever exhibited violence toward persons close to him, to everyone."
Strauss-Kahn was supposed to be meeting in Berlin on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about help to debt-laden Greece, and then joining EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. The IMF is responsible for one-third of Greece's current loan package, and his expected presence at these meetings underlined the gravity of the Greek crisis.
Strauss-Kahn took over as head from the IMF in November 2007. The 187-nation lending agency is headquartered in Washington and provides assist within the type of emergency loans for countries facing severe financial troubles.
Strauss-Kahn won praise for his leadership at the IMF throughout the financial crisis of 2008 plus the severe international recession that followed.
Much more recently, he has directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis that began in Greece from destabilizing the international economic climate.
In October 2008, Strauss-Kahn issued an apology towards the IMF staff just after accusations that he had a sexual romantic relationship with an IMF subordinate.
"While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my portion, for which I take complete responsibility, I firmly feel that I have not abused my position," Strauss-Kahn wrote in an e mail to IMF staff.
The board found that the romantic relationship was consensual. The IMF employee left the fund and took a job together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Prior to taking the best post in the IMF, Strauss-Kahn had been a member of the French National Assembly and had also served as France's Minister of Economic system, Finance and Sector from June 1997 to November 1999.
He had been viewed as a top contender to run on the Socialist Party's ticket to challenge the re-election of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Strauss-Kahn, dubbed DSK in France, was noticed as the strongest achievable challenger to Sarkozy in following year's presidential elections. Strauss-Kahn has not declared his candidacy, staying vague in interviews when feeding speculation that he desires France's top job.
French media have reported about Strauss-Kahn's lifestyle, including luxury automobiles and suits, that some have dubbed a smear campaign.
He sought the Socialist Party's endorsement within the final elections, in 2007, but came in second inside a primary to Segolene Royal. Royal, the very first lady to obtain so close to France's presidency, lost to Sarkozy in the runoff.
Right after Sarkozy won, the new president championed Strauss-Kahn as a candidate to run the IMF. Sarkozy's backers touted the move as a sign with the conservative president's campaign of openness to leftists - but political strategists saw it as a way for Sarkozy to obtain a possible challenger far away from the French limelight.
Royal, who continues to harbor presidential ambitions of her personal, remained prudent Sunday in regards to the allegations, saying Strauss-Kahn has the appropriate towards the presumption of innocence.
"My thoughts go to the man in this challenging time and to his family," she mentioned. "We are inside a Democracy and should let justice do its function. Everybody must remain calm."
The global financial crisis thrust Strauss-Kahn into an unexpectedly prominent role and boosted his international standing in time to think about a 2012 French presidential bid.
A former economics professor, Strauss-Kahn joined the Socialist celebration in 1976 and was elected to parliament in 1986 from the Val-d'Oise district, north of Paris. He went on to come to be mayor of Sarcelles, a working-class immigrant suburb of Paris.
His to begin with government post was industry minister below former President Francois Mitterrand. As finance minister, he reduced France's debt repayments through a raft of privatizations like the sale of shares in France Telecom SA and Air France.
He is credited with preparing France for the adoption of the euro by taming its deficit and persuading then-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to sign up to an EU pact of fiscal prudence
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