(16 MAY 2011)
IMF Chief Charged with Sex Assault, Rape Attempt !!
(by Paola Messana and Stephane Jourdain – Sun, May 15, 1:59 pm ET)
NEW YORK (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged Sunday with the sexual assault and attempted rape of a New York chambermaid, a scandal which could derail his ambitions to run for the French presidency. The charges included "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment, attempted rape" and "assaulting a 32-year-old girl in a hotel room," a police spokesman told reporters.
The 62-year-old IMF chief, who was expected to be formally arraigned before a New York judge later Sunday, will "plead not guilty," his lawyer William Taylor told AFP. The bombshell news comes at a crucial time for the International Monetary Fund, one of the pillars of the world's financial system, as it tries to help shore up the debt-ridden euro zone.
An IMF spokesman sai
d the Washington-based Fund would meet in a special session later Sunday "to be briefed on developments related to the managing director."The IMF chief was arrested, charged by New York police and held overnight in the Harlem neighborhood at a special unit for sexual harassment, after a maid at the top class Sofitel hotel alleged he had assaulted her when he got out of his shower naked.
The New York Times reported that according to one law enforcement official "investigation in the hotel room uncovered forensic evidence that would contain DNA." But Strauss-Kahn's wife, high-profile French television journalist Anne Sinclair, dismissed the allegations against her husband. "I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband. I have no doubt his innocence will be established," she said in a statement to AFP.
[Hahahah... The so-called GOOD WIFE !].
From early Sunday a media gaggle gathered outside the police station, and there was a buzz as a young blond woman wrapped in what appeared to be a white sheet was driven into the building. It was not known immediately who she was. Strauss-Kahn, who has been widely praised for his stewardship of the IMF, is a leading member of the Socialist party and well-known on the French political scene. He is often referred to simply by his initials DSK.
He had been expected to challenge center-right French President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential race, and even though he has not yet officially declared his candidacy he had been topping the opinion polls.
News of his arrest threw the Socialist party into disarray, and could prove a boost for Sarkozy and his rightwing UMP which is also facing a challenge from the far-right National Front and its leader Marine Le Pen.
Martine Aubry, leader of the French Socialists, said the news of Strauss-Kahn's arrest was a "thunderbolt" which left her "astounded."
[Hahahah... One man fall, is another good fortune... And what presidential election?! These days, everyone that has power and money can be president, doesn't matter IF the moral and ethics is at question?! Developed countries or trouble countries... Italy, French, Libya, to Somalia, Ethiopia, etc.]
But she would not yet comment on how the presidential race might reshape itself if Strauss-Kahn is taken out of the running. In a dramatic intervention, Strauss-Kahn had been taken off a flight from John F. Kennedy airport just minutes before take-off.
The move came after a chambermaid alleged Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom naked and attempted to sexually assault her, The New York Times reported, quoting New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne. According to the account from the maid, who had been employed at the Sofitel for three years, the IMF chief grabbed her, pulled her into the bedroom and onto the bed and then locked the door, the paper said. She managed to fight him off, but he dragged her down the hallway to the bathroom, where he sexually assaulted her a second time, according to The Times report.
MSNBC television said that in the bathroom, Strauss-Kahn forced the maid to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. She broke free and fled, reporting the incident to other hotel staff and calling the 911 police emergency line.
The scandal comes at a critical moment for the 187-member IMF, which has been leading negotiations to help the debt-ridden euro zone. Strauss-Kahn, whose stint at the IMF does not officially end until September 2012, had been due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday to discuss an aid package for debt-laden Greece. He was then to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.
It is not the first time that the silver-haired Strauss-Kahn has been tainted by scandal. In 2008, he was discovered to be having an affair with an Hungarian IMF economist, but the IMF concluded he had not exerted pressure on the woman, although it noted his inappropriate behavior.
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Cuba ROGOL: Pengarah Urusan IMF didakwa
NEW YORK 15 Mei - Pengarah Urusan Dana Kewangan Antarabangsa (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn awal hari ini didakwa secara rasmi 'atas tuduhan melakukan serangan seksual dan percubaan merogol'.
Beliau ditahan semalam dan disoal siasat berhubung dakwaan serangan seksual terhadap seorang pengemas bilik di sebuah hotel terkemuka di bandar raya ini, kata polis New York.
Strauss-Kahn, anggota Parti Sosialis yang dijangka mencabar Presiden Nicolas Sarkozy pada pilihan raya Presiden Perancis pada tahun depan, dibawa turun dari sebuah pesawat Air France semalam, beberapa minit sebelum penerbangan dijadual berlepas ke Paris dari Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa John F. Kennedy.
"Kami menahannya dan menyerahkannya kepada Jabatan Polis New York City (NYPD) atas permintaan NYPD," kata seorang pegawai Lembaga Pelabuhan New York dan New Jersey. Pihak berkuasa menyiasat dakwaan seorang wanita berusia 32 tahun di Hotel Sofitel New York diserang awal semalam, kata polis.
Pegawai Lembaga Pelabuhan berkata, Strauss-Kahn, 62, dibawa turun dari pesawat 10 minit sebelum waktu berlepas, pada pukul 4.45 petang semalam (4.45 pagi ini waktu Malaysia). Menurut akhbar New York Daily News, Strauss-Kahn mendekati wanita itu dari belakang selepas dia masuk ke biliknya lalu memaksa mangsa melakukan seks oral. Wanita itu berjaya melepaskan diri sementara Strauss-Kahn bergegas meninggalkan hotel tersebut untuk menuju ke lapangan terbang, lapor akhbar tersebut.
Insiden semalam bukan kali pertama Strauss-Kahn, juga dikenali sebagai 'DSK', terlibat dengan dakwaan seksual, kerana pada 2008, beliau didakwa mengadakan hubungan sulit dengan seorang ahli ekonomi IMF rakyat Hungary. IMF menyiasat dan mendapati beliau tidak mengenakan tekanan ke atas wanita itu tetapi menyifatkan kelakuan beliau sebagai tidak wajar. - AFP
