Former IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday denied knowing the women he had orgies with were prostitutes and said paying for sex would be too great a risk for a man who was busy “saving the world.”
Strauss-Kahn took the stand for the first time on charges of “aggravated pimping” in an alleged vice ring, in a day of high drama in a French court that saw a former prostitute detail scenes of group sex as “carnage.”
The economist once tipped for the French presidency denied having a “frenetic” program of sex parties at a time when the IMF he led was “saving the world from an unprecedented” financial crisis, adding they only took place four times a year between 2008 and 2011.
Dressed in a dark suit, he told the court in the northern French city of Lille that he would never have attended the sex parties in Paris, Brussels and Washington, if he knew the women were paid to be there.
“I am horrified at the practice of using prostitutes,” he said.
Strauss-Kahn admits being a libertine and said that while he accepted the risk of unusual sexual practices for a man of his stature, he would not have taken the risk of paying prostitutes who would be susceptible to “pressures.”
The 65-year-old finds himself back in the dock four years after his high-flying career and presidential prospects were torpedoed when he was accused of sexual assault by a New York hotel maid, a case later settled in a civil suit.
The crux of the case against him is whether he was aware the women were paid by members of his entourage and whether he played a role in organizing the parties, which he also denied.
“It has happened 10 times that a woman offers herself to me. It is nothing unusual to me,” Strauss-Kahn said.
Asked to define a libertine party, Strauss-Kahn said it was when men and women “came together for the pleasure of sex” and what he liked was the “party atmosphere” of such soirees.
However one former prostitute, Jade — who attended several parties with Strauss-Kahn — described scenes of “carnage” at such a party at a chic Parisian hotel.
“There was [Strauss-Kahn] surrounded by women [on a bed]. That isn’t libertinism, there were no other men. No one asked my name, there was just a hand on my head to perform fellatio,” she said.
However, Strauss-Kahn’s female lawyer, Frederique Baulieu, read evidence from a girlfriend who accompanied him to the party and described it as “free and friendly” — prompting court judge Lemaire to say: “This shows people have different views of libertinism.”
Mounia, another former prostitute, also detailed how Strauss-Kahn performed a sexual act on her which was “against nature” during the party, despite her tears.
“I think he realized [I didn’t want to do it],” she said, adding that she had not refused it because she needed the money.
Strauss-Kahn strongly denied this, saying her tears would have “chilled” him.
“What is sure is we didn’t experience the same thing [at that party]. To me it was friendly, playful,” he said.
Both Jade and Mounia said they had not mentioned to Strauss-Kahn that they were prostitutes.
Strauss-Kahn’s close friend, businessman Fabrice Paszkowski, who is accused of financing and organizing the parties, said he never told the former IMF head that he had paid the women to attend.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in