IMF head/French politician arrested in NYC

[Dr Mordrid]

Sounds like an old Law & Order episode

Reuters....

IMF head arrested in New York

(Reuters) - The head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested in New York on Saturday and accused of a sexual attack on a hotel maid, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper, citing a Port Authority spokesman, said Strauss-Kahn, also a possible Socialist candidate in next April's French presidential election, was arrested minutes before he was to due to fly to Paris from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The Times quoted authorities as saying Strauss-Kahn was accused of a "sex attack" on a maid at a Times Square hotel earlier in the day.
>

[Evildead666]

This coming a very short time after a photo of himself and his partner 'Anne Sinclair' getting into a Porsche (Panamera I think) which seemed to be controversial also, due to him being head of the IMF and all.
It was generally accepted that the finger was being pointed at Sarkozy's camp as the source of the controversy, getting ready for the next presidential elections next year.

They're also saying on the BBC radio that when he was apprehended, he had left behind some of his belongings, adding fuel to the thought he was doing a runner.

From what is being brandied around here, he got out of the shower stark naked, and then supposedly 'sexually assaulted' a chamber maid.
I'm all for the 'presumed innocent until proven guilty' and especially so in the USA of 'Sue anyone, anything, anytime'.
To me this smells of either someone wanting some money and/or fame, or a very long stretching arm of French politics (smear campaign).

In France there are 3 major political parties : Left wing, right wing, and National Front.
DSK was a leftie, and doing pretty good in the polls lately (until the Porsche incident and now this).
Sarkozy is a rightie, and is very very low in the polls.
National Front is what it is, and gaining lots of ground, 14-18% iirc of the voting population.

What Sarkozy would like to happen, is a political race between the righties, and the National front on the second round of voting, with the lefties out in the first round.
Its how he got in last time as well i think. Everyone knows that National front will never win, but when you have to choose one or the other, then guess who wins.

We'll just have to wait to see how this pans out.

[Dr Mordrid]

I really doubt that a NY hotel maid, or the NYPD, give Jack Sh** about French politics. Most of 'em probably think Charles de Gaulle is still in office

I don't care who he is - if some guy comes out of the shower naked, approaches the maid close enough to freak her then runs for JFK he's going to get arrested.

[Evildead666]

I really doubt that a NY hotel maid, or the NYPD, give Jack Sh** about French politics. Most of 'em probably think Charles de Gaulle is still in office

I don't care who he is - if some guy comes out of the shower naked, approaches the maid close enough to freak her then runs for JFK he's going to get arrested.

That is not what he is being charged with doing.
I do hope that is not your view either, since it would pertain to arresting someone for being naked in their own hotel room, when a maid accidentally walks in.
I know a lot of US people are God fearing puritans, but thats stretching it too far.

At what point did the Hotel maid notice the room hadn't been vacated ? There must have been clothing etc around the room. Steam from the shower ?
A $3000 a night suite, and no one checks the computers to see if the guy has left yet or not ?

Lets see where this goes, and make judgement afterwards.

[Evildead666]

The NYPD and the maid don't have to care about French politics : The damage has been done.

Even if this boils down to him being acquitted, his name is finished, so is his political/professional career.
People here want to know if this was planned, and if so, by who ?
This will probably drag on, as well.

edit : Off to local cafe to get reaction of the (local) populace

[Evildead666]

Well, some people are sure he did something, while others can't believe it, and will wait to see how it pans out.
Whether its true or not, the political landscape here is in a shambles.

[UtwigMU]

A man with his salary could have easily paid for a prostitute and a man in such position is not probably so stupid so as to get caught like this. Or the woman was a prostitute and decided she could get more money out of incident. Or he was set up.

[Evildead666]

Strangely enough, he was staying in a Sofitel Hotel, which is owned by the french company Accor Hotels.
The woman is the subject of an internal Accor investigation into the matter.

As you say UtwigMU, he isn't stupid, or poor. He's been done before for having a bit on the side, but this is just nothing like that.
I mean, Mitterand had a whole second family with kids and everything, and that wasn't deemed a problem at all.
France is a very macho place, and having a bit on the side is more of a 'Oh, you got caught' than the act in itself. Not my personal view, but its the general consensus.
But again, this is nothing like that. This is a very serious criminal accusation.

The National Front (Marine LE PEN) is pretty happy about all this, because it discredits and destabilises the whole socialist party.

Even if the woman is found to have lied and made the whole thing up, his political career is gone.
Just this morning, some of the papers had him as the favourite for the presidential election. Not anymore I should think.

[Dr Mordrid]

Headlines this morning say DNA was found, he tried to skip leaving his cell & was taken off the Air France flight just before takeoff - in first class, of course. Charges -

Attempted rape
Unlawful imprisonment (physical restraint & locking the door)
Criminal sexual act

Gory details in this Time/CNN story

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2071528,00.html

>
The New York Police Department claims that at about 1 p.m. on Saturday, a hotel maid entered a $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel near Times Square, believing that it was empty. Strauss-Kahn then emerged naked from the bathroom, and grabbed her, pulled her into the bedroom and threw her on to the bed, before trying to lock the suite's main door, according to New York Police Dept. Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, who outlined the charges to reporters. "She fights him off, and then he drags her down the hallway to the bathroom, where he sexually assaults her a second time," he told Reuters.

The maid, 32, finally managed to push Strauss-Kahn away and escape, according to Browne, and her colleagues called 911. Strauss-Kahn had checked out by the time police arrived at the hotel, leaving behind his cell phone. Strauss-Kahn was arrested on charges of attempted rape, conducting a criminal sexual act, and unlawful imprisonment of the woman. Early Sunday, Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told Reuters his client, who was still in NYPD custody and was expected to appear in state court sometime Sunday, would plead not guilty.

[Evildead666]

20minutes.fr is saying that the first twitter about this came 19mins after his arrest in NY, and was tweeted by a member of the UMP Johnathan PINET (Sarkozy's Party).
This was then relayed around by the same guy who ran Sarkozy's web campaign last time round (Arnaud DASSIER), who was accused friday of smearing DSK's political campaign with the Porsche photos that have been doing the rounds in the papers over here.

http://www.20minutes.fr/article/724229/affaire-dsk-coup-monte-toutes-pieces-

Basically they are finding it strange that the info came from a UMP party member, before any of the media outlets got the info. This is fuelling the thoughts about it being politically motivated.

[Evildead666]

Headlines this morning say DNA was found...[/url]

Nothing here about that. The Times article didn't have anything on DNA...
got a link ?

[Evildead666]

NYT : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/ny...k.html?_r=1&hp

In the room, investigators found his cellphone, which he had left behind, and one law enforcement official said that the investigation uncovered forensic evidence that would contain DNA.

[Evildead666]

Then again, she could have been going through his bags, and trying to steal stuff.
Or, he may have thought she was stealing, and grabbed her to stop her running away and call the front desk.
She gets caught, and cries attempted rape.

Who is going to be believed ?

Plausible ?

[Dr Mordrid]

The speed of info getting out doesn't surprise me. Not one bit. News media here has sources inside the police dept. and anyone who wants one can buy a radio scanner that receives police frequencies. Then you have the hotel staff; some of them may have called a news tip line as soon as it was known who he was, probably long before the arrest. More than a few staffers at high end hotels catering to VIP's are also paid informants for the tabloids.

News of the arrest probably hit the net before the squad cars got back to the precinct from JFK

[degrub]

ahh yes, it's spring in France, love is in the air, and so is an election. What a wonderful fragrance - what's that you say ? its eu du politico ?