Dominique Strauss-Kahn under investigation: Q & A
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under formal investigation on Monday by authorities looking into a suspected prostitution ring. How did they link DSK to a vice ring? Has he been charged yet?
27 Mar 2012
How did they link DSK to a vice ring?
DSK's name came up during a police probe into a prostitution ring that saw sex workers from brothels over the Belgian border being brought to France for orgies in high-class hotels in Lille and Paris. Some even are said to have gone to see him in Washington when he was still IMF chief.
What did judges decide concerning DSK on Monday night?
They chose to place him under official investigation for "aggravated pimping as part of an organised gang".
Prostitution is not illegal in France, but pimping is. Under article 225-5 of France's penal code, "pimping is the act by anyone and by whatever means of helping, assisting or protecting the prostitution of others."
The judges, however, chose not to retain potential charges for "complicity in abuse of company funds", meaning they did not think DSK was aware his friends' company funds were being used to pay for his soirées.
Has he been charged yet?
No, being "mis en examen" in French is one step short of being charged but means judges believe there are sufficient grounds to proceed with a deeper investigation, which could well lead to him being charged, or "mis en accusation".
What punishment does he face if found guilty?
A maximum 20-year prison term and three million-euro fine.
Has been remanded in custody?
No, he been placed under judicial control, and freed under 100,000 euros bail, but must not contact any of the other eight defendants in the case, nor civil plaintiffs or any media concerning the investigation.
On what grounds has DSK been placed under investigation?
DSK admits that he took part in some of these parties but denies any knowledge of the women being paid, as a police commissioner friend also under investigation organised most of the sex sessions. Two French businessmen also implicated have categorically denied DSK was aware they paid the women.
But judges suspect otherwise. According to French press reports, one of the women taking part in these sessions said DSK was doubtless aware she was paid, "unless he was naive". That would explain why judges moved from a lesser charge of "complicity in aggravated pimping" to plain "aggravated pimping".
Police also allegedly have mobile text message evidence suggesting DSK had inquired how much one call girl cost as he wanted to recommend her to a friend, according to Libération newspaper.
What are his lawyers saying?
They are calling for the cancellation of this decision.
Richard Malka insisted his client had never broken the law, saying: "Through this prosecution they are trying to create a new crime punishing clients of prostitution where the law does not provide for this."
He also suggested that Strauss-Kahn was being pursued because of his high profile and links to the Socialist Party just 26 days before presidential elections.
"As a result of behaviour that is purely his own business, Mr Strauss-Kahn has found himself – largely because of his fame – thrown to the wolves, by coincidence less than a month before a major election," Malka said.
What are DSK's former Socialist allies saying?
They're keeping a low profile.
François Hollande, the Socialists' presidential candidate and current front-runner, said: "It's a private matter. It's painful, but not something that I have to make a political judgment about."
Socialist party leader, Martine Aubry, said: "The page has turned. I have no comment to make today."
What about DSK's legal woes in the US?
His lawyers will be in court on Wednesday in the Bronx, New York for the first hearing in a civil case brought against him by Nafissatou Diallo, a hotel maid who alleges he sexually assaulted her.
Criminal charges were dropped after prosecutors came to doubt the reliability of her testimony.
His lawyers are urging the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds that, at the time of the alleged attack in May last year, their client had diplomatic immunity.
Does DSK have a political future?
No, and for the time being he is having great difficulty pursuing any career as an economist. He was due to speak at a European Parliament debate on Tuesday but cancelled after MEPs said it would be "indecent" for him to appear.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/dominique-strauss-kahn/9168954/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-under-investigation-Q-and-A.html
