Prosecutor asks for charges against Strauss-Kahn to be dropped

A prosecutor asked a criminal court in Lille, France,

yesterday to drop charges against the former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, saying, according to news reports, that there was not enough evidence to convict him of procuring prostitutes.

The case against Mr Strauss-Kahn already appeared to be falling apart after five of the six plaintiffs retracted their accusations against him on Monday, citing a lack of evidence that he intended to break the law. Mr Strauss-Kahn has consistently said he did not know that the women at sex parties he attended in Lille, Paris, Washington and elsewhere were prostitutes.

The prosecutor had earlier suggested that the case against Mr Strauss-Kahn was weak, but he was overruled by investigating judges. While the prosecutor’s recommendation demonstrates how hard it would be to convict Mr Strauss-Kahn, under French law the decision ultimately rests with the three judges on the case. A verdict is not expected for several months.

If convicted, Mr Strauss-Kahn could face up to 10 years in prison and fines of more than €1.5 million. But most legal experts believe Mr Strauss-Kahn will be acquitted.

Burlesque

The testimony during the trial often bordered on the burlesque, featuring a cast of characters that included a sex club owner, former prostitutes called Mounia and Jade, and a former police chief. At the nexus of the sex ring, prosecutors said, was the faded and kitschy glamour of the Carlton Hotel in Lille, which features gilded statuettes, Louis XVI furniture and palatial suites. Orgies attended by judges, journalists and power brokers were said to have taken place there.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was once considered a favourite to become president of France, was accused, along with 13 other defendants, of aggravated pimping and of using friends to obtain prostitutes for sex parties. But Mr Strauss-Kahn testified during the trial that he was too busy trying to deal with the ailing global economy to join frequent orgies. He said he attended such affairs at most four times a year.

The trial signalled a new humiliation for Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was forced to resign as head of the IMF in 2011 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. Those charges were later dropped, and a lawsuit was settled. Buffeted by scandals, he was banished to the political wilderness.

During the trial, Mr Strauss-Kahn testified that he would never have taken the risk of knowingly attending orgies with prostitutes, given his standing and political aspirations. Moreover, he argued that libertinage, or sex parties involving multiple and consensual partners, was an age-old practice and a matter of private taste.

The French daily Le Monde noted this week that the chief judge had followed through on his pledge not to turn the court into an arbiter of public morality. Others, however, said the case had rightfully exposed Mr Strauss-Kahn's moral failures and a lack of judgment that made him unsuitable for higher office.

– (New York Times service)