[ 2011-08-23 ]

Nafissatou Diallo insists she was sexually assaulted by Strauss-Kahn

Strauss-Kahn case to be dropped
Prosecutors have asked a judge to drop a sexual
assault case against former IMF director Dominique
Strauss-Kahn.

They told a New York judge they were "no longer
convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt".

The case - based on an accusation by hotel maid
Nafissatou Diallo - crumbled in recent weeks over
questions about her credibility and motives.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested in May accused
of sexually assaulting the 32-year-old African
immigrant.

In a filing in New York state court, prosecutors
told a judge Ms Diallo had "not been been truthful
on matters great and small."

A judge is expected to rule on the motion on
Tuesday.

If the case is dropped Mr Strauss-Kahn would be
free to return to France, though he also faces a
civil lawsuit from Ms Diallo.

Reasonable doubt

In the court filing, prosecutors laid out in
detail the case they had assembled against
Dominique Strauss-Kahn - and the doubts they
quickly began having.

"The physical, scientific and other evidence
establishes that the defendant engaged in a
hurried sexual encounter with the complainant, but
it does not independently establish her claim of a
forcible, nonconsensual encounter," the filing
said.

In addition, "evidence gathered during our
post-indictment investigation severely undermined
her reliability as a witness in this case".

Within weeks the case was called into question as
prosecutors said there were inconsistencies in Ms
Diallo's accounts of her background and of the
alleged assault.

It was revealed that she had been recorded
discussing the case with a jailed friend and
appeared to refer to Mr Strauss-Kahn's wealth,
which his supporters said pointed to a financial
motive in her pursuit of the case.

Prosecutors also said Ms Diallo had not been
truthful in tax documents, nor on an asylum
application form in her account of a gang rape she
said she suffered back in Guinea.

With the case resting entirely on the need to
convince a jury that Ms Diallo was telling the
truth, prosecutors were said that if they were
unable to believe her story beyond a reasonable
doubt, "we cannot ask a jury to do so".

Speaking to reporters after a brief meeting with
prosecutors at the court in Manhattan, Ms Diallo's
lawyer Kenneth Thompson insisted that justice was
not being done.

"Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has
denied the right of a woman to get justice in a
rape case. He has not only turned his back on this
innocent victim but he has also turned his back on
the forensic, medical and other physical evidence
in this case.

Mr Thompson filed a motion asking the judge to
disqualify Mr Vance's office from the case and to
appoint a special prosecutor, charging that Mr
Vance's staff had mishandled the prosecution and
had leaked information to the news media that
damaged the case.

Concerns

Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers noted they had insisted
on Mr Strauss-Kahn's innocence since the beginning
of the case.

"We also maintained that there were many reasons
to believe that Mr Strauss-Kahn's accuser was not
credible," William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman
said in a statement.

"Mr Strauss-Kahn and his family are grateful that
the district attorney's office took our concerns
seriously and concluded on its own that this case
cannot proceed further."

Authorities in Paris are still considering whether
to press charges against him over an allegation by
French writer Tristane Banon that he tried to rape
her during a 2003 interview.

An international media frenzy erupted on 14 May
when Ms Diallo told police that Mr Strauss-Kahn
had confronted her naked as she entered a suite at
the Sofitel Hotel in New York City, chased her and
forced her to perform oral sex.

The 62-year-old IMF director was arrested that day
on board an Air France jet and was later marched
out of a New York police station in handcuffs.

Authorities in New York said they had DNA evidence
showing a sexual encounter occurred and that Ms
Diallo's account of the alleged assault was
credible.

Mr Strauss-Kahn vehemently denied the accusation,
and his lawyers said any sexual encounter between
the two had been consensual.

'Inconsistencies'

Mr Strauss-Kahn had been touted as a leading
contender to take on French President Nicolas
Sarkozy in the April 2012 presidential elections.

After his arrest, he was forced out of his job as
director of the International Monetary Fund and
later placed under house detention.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was later freed from his
restrictive bail conditions.

Ms Diallo then took the unusual step of giving
media interviews, defending her allegations
against Mr Strauss-Kahn.

On 8 August, she filed a civil suit against him.

An opinion poll released in July showed two-thirds
of French people do not want Mr Strauss-Kahn to be
a candidate in the 2012 elections.

Source - BBC

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