Strauss Kahn's Political Fortunes in France Rise as Rape Case Unravels

Dominique Strauss-Kahn to countersue writer over attempted rape claim

Strauss-Kahn responds with defamation threat after Tristane Banon announces plan to sue over alleged assault in 2002.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been accused of attempting to rape a journalist in 2002. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex Features
The Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal took an astonishing new twist when a French writer announced she was filing a lawsuit against the former head of the International Monetary Fund for attempted rape and he responded by saying he would sue her for defamation. Tristane Banon's lawyer said the legal proceedings would centre on the behaviour of Strauss-Kahn when she went to interview him in a Paris apartment in February 2002. Banon, who was 22 at the time, later spoke about the alleged assault on French TV and described Strauss-Kahn, then a leading member of France's Socialist party, as acting like a "rutting chimpanzee". Strauss-Kahn's name was censored out of the broadcast. The alleged incident went largely unreported in France until he was arrested in New York in May and accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a hotel chambermaid. The 62-year-old politician, who had been tipped to be the next French president, denied the charges. His passport was confiscated and he was put under house arrest by a US judge. After questions were raised about the credibility of evidence given by the chambermaid, Strauss-Kahn was released without bail on Friday, but his passport was not returned. The apparent collapse of the case against him led some colleagues to suggest he could make a political comeback in France. In an exclusive interview with the French magazine L'Express, Banon said: "I can no longer hear that I am a liar because I haven't made a legal complaint. For eight years I have carried the weight of this incident alone, hearing rumours and lies about me." She said she did not want to give evidence in support of the New York chambermaid because "I don't know anything about her case. If she lied about certain things, that doesn't necessarily mean she lied about the rape. For me it has become unbearable. And today, to see Strauss-Kahn no sooner free than eating in a luxury restaurant with friends makes me ill. "For once I want to have control over what is happening to me. I want to be heard because perhaps, finally, there's a chance I will be listened to." She added: "I want only one thing. That he [Strauss-Kahn] returns to France with his presumption of innocence so we can go before the court." At the time of the alleged incident, Banon was reportedly dissuaded from taking legal action by her mother, Anne Mansouret, who is a local councillor for his Socialist party. Mansouret later admitted she regretted talking her daughter out of making a complaint. "Tristane Banon will file a complaint for attempted rape in Paris," Koubbi said. "These acts are extremely serious. These events were combined with a violence that was absolutely striking for these kinds of situations." Koubbi would not say whether the timing was affected by developments in New York. After being told of Banon's intention to launch a lawsuit, Strauss-Kahn's Paris lawyers said he would sue for slander. In a statement published in Le Parisien they said Strauss-Kahn had "heard about Mme Tristane Banon's intention to make a legal complaint against him" and described her claims as "imaginary". Under French law, attempted rape charges can be brought up to 10 years after an alleged attack, whereas sexual assault charges expire after three years. In the television programme, broadcast in 2007, Banon accused Strauss-Kahn of leaping on her, wrenching open her bra and trying to unbutton her jeans. The writer, who was a close friend of Strauss-Kahn's daughter Camille, said she was forced to fight him off. "It finished badly ... very violently ... I kicked him," she said. "When we were fighting, I mentioned the word rape to make him afraid, but it didn't have any effect. I managed to get out." Explaining why she had not pressed charges, Banon said "I didn't want to be known to the end of my days as the girl who had a problem with the politician."Read more...