Former IMF chief claims diplomatic immunity from lawsuit brought by hotel maid over sexual assault allegation
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has asked a New York judge to dismiss a civil suit filed by the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.
The high-profile criminal case against Strauss-Kahn collapsed last month after prosecutors told the court they could not trust hotel worker Nafissatou Diallo's testimony beyond reasonable doubt.
Strauss-Kahn was forced to resign as managing director of the IMF after he was arrested in May while trying to board a plane to Europe and charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of Diallo in his suite at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan.
Diallo had filed a civil law suit against the ex-IMF boss before the criminal case collapsed. While the criminal case continued, judge Douglas McKeon gave the one-time French presidential candidate until 26 September to respond. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers are arguing that their client was immune to such suits under international law. McKeon will now now consider the application.
Diallo, a 32-year-old Guinean immigrant, maintains in her civil suit against Strauss-Kahn that she was subjected to a "sadistic" attack. She is seeking unspecified damages from the millionaire economist.
DNA evidence of a sexual encounter was recovered by the police, and Strauss-Kahn has argued that he had consensual sex with Diallo. Earlier this month, in his first interview since the trial collapsed, Strauss-Kahn said there was no "aggression or constraint" involved, but admitted he was guilty of a "moral fault".
Strauss-Kahn faces legal woes on both sides of the Atlantic, despite the collapse of the criminal case. This week he is expected to meet Tristane Banon, a French writer who has accused him of attacking her during an interview him in 2003, when he was a senior figure in the opposition Socialist party. He has strenuously denied the accusations.
French prosecutors are deciding whether to bring charges against Strauss-Kahn and the meeting is set to take place before a judge.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/26/dominique-strauss-kahn-civil-suit
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