Translated material
The prosecutor's office asked to acquit the former head of the IMF in the case of pimping
The prosecutor's office appealed to the Lille court with a request to acquit the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the case of pimping.
The prosecutor's office filed an appeal to the court after five of the six plaintiffs in the Strauss-Kahn case abandoned their claims, indicating that they could not support them with hard evidence.
The trial in Lille is scheduled to end no later than February 20. However, when the verdict will be announced is still unknown.
Strauss-Kahn is one of 14 accused in the case of a group of pimps who worked in the fashionable Carlton hotel in Lille and supplied prostitutes to parties throughout France.
The former head of the IMF is accused of participating in parties with prostitutes, and also helped to organize them. On charges of pimping, the former head of the IMF faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1.5 million euros.
Strauss-Kahn does not deny that he took part in parties with prostitutes, but insists that he did not know about the occupation of these women and had nothing to do with organizing such events.
In a statement to the court, the prosecutor's office points to the lack of evidence in the Strauss-Kahn case (English).
- In May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who at that time headed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and was considered one of the likely contenders for the presidency of France, was arrested in New York on charges of sexual harassment of a Sofitel hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo.
- Strauss-Kahn resigned from the post of head of the IMF and refused to nominate his candidacy in the presidential elections in France.
- In August 2011, the prosecutor's office had doubts about the veracity of the testimony of the maid, and the case was closed. Diallo filed a civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn, but the parties entered into an agreement, and the case did not go to court. It was reported that Diallo, under a pre-trial agreement, received $ 1.5 million from the ex-head of the IMF.