Former IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn initially tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was arrested over the attempted rape of a hotel maid, police transcripts revealed on Thursday.
The transcripts, released by the prosecution, showed that after Strauss-Kahn was led away by police from his Air France flight at JFK airport on May 14, some of his first words were: “I have diplomatic immunity.”
Later when being questioned by police downtown, Strauss-Kahn relented when asked if he had some kind of diplomatic status, saying: “No, no, no. I am not trying to use that, I just want to know if I need a lawyer.”
Photo: Reuters
The IMF, from which Strauss-Kahn later resigned as managing director, said days after his arrest that immunity did not apply in the case because he had been on private business during his stay in New York.
The transcripts, which form part of a Voluntary Disclosure Form requested by defense lawyers, catalog in detail the first few hours of the scandal that ended Strauss-Kahn’s French presidential hopes.
The first transcript relays a phone conversation at 3:42pm — less than four hours after the alleged sex crime — between Strauss-Kahn and the hotel’s lost and found clerk in which he says he left his cellphone behind.
Twenty minutes later, at 4:03pm, Strauss-Kahn called back, saying: “I want to speak to the person who is bringing back my phone. When will they arrive? I am in the Air France lounge, please call me back at this number.”
Authorities previously reported that police who had been called about the attack were listening to the calls from the hotel, helping to locate Strauss-Kahn.
At 4:40pm, presumably on board the plane — although the location is simply given as “Gate 4 jetway” — the defendant asked plain-clothes police detective Diwan Maharaj: “Do you have my cellphone?”
He soon realized he was dealing with police officers and when asked to go with them asked: “What for?”
The detective replied: “Now is not the time or the place to discuss.”
Five minutes later, by this time back at the gate, Strauss-Kahn was told by another police officer: “The NYPD [New York Police Department] needs to speak with you about an incident in the city at a hotel.”
There is no response.
By 5pm, Strauss-Kahn was in a police precinct at the airport, where he was asked to empty the contents of his pockets and place everything on the table.
As he was handcuffed, he asked: “Is that necessary?”
“Yes it is,” came the reply.
At this point, Strauss-Kahn stated: “I have diplomatic immunity.”
“It’s not in this passport, I have a second passport,” he added. “Can I speak with someone from the French consulate? What is this about?”
Fifteen minutes later, Strauss-Kahn was en route to the Manhattan Special Victims Squad asking to make a telephone call and complaining for the third time about the handcuffs, saying: “These handcuffs are tight.”
By 5:40pm, he was downtown and still trying to make a telephone call. There was then a gap of more than three hours before the defendant asked to use the bathroom and for a coffee.
At 9pm, Strauss-Kahn demanded to call his lawyer, but was told he must wait until the detectives returned.
“Do I need a lawyer?” he asked.
“It is your right to have one in this country if you want. I don’t know if you have some kind of diplomatic status,” the police officer replied.
“No, no, no. I am not trying to use that, I just want to know if I need a lawyer,” Strauss-Kahn said.
By 10:55pm, the defendant appeared to have spoken with his lawyer as he was asked if he wished to speak with detectives about the incident and replied: “My attorney has told me not to talk. I was ready to talk.”
After refusing food for the second time at 11:20pm, there was a pause until 9am the following morning when Strauss-Kahn asked for some eggs and then 20 minutes later for a sandwich. The transcript, several bits of which were redacted, then ends.
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