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Latest update: 25/06/2011
- Dominique Strauss-Kahn - France - international justice
Strauss-Kahn prosecution enlists French legal help
The legal team leading the prosecution of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has gone on the offensive in enlisting a prominent French lawyer, Thibault de Montbrial, to locate any of Strauss-Kahn's alleged past victims.
By FRANCE 24 (text)
For the last several weeks, France has stood by watching as one of its most prominent international figures, fallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been processed by the US justice system following his arrest on sexual assault charges. But now, one of France's own will be jumping into the legal fray unfolding on the other side of the Atlantic.
The team of New York lawyers representing the 32-year-old Guinean hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her have asked Paris-based lawyer Thibault de Montbrial to help dig up previous victims of the French politician, news reports on Thursday stated.
The 42-year-old Montbrial, described in the French press as an avid athlete who loves football and combat sports, is not considered “one of the star criminal lawyers in France”, according to French daily Le Monde’s legal correspondent Pascale Robert Diard.
Still, he is “very respected and has worked on some of the big French political and financial cases”, she said.
Those cases include the infamous Clearstream trial – Montbrial served as lawyer for accused former EADS head Jean-Louis Gergorin – and the defence of Renault executive Matthieu Tenenbaum, accused of spying.
Montbrial has also played a prominent role in certain international cases, representing the families of victims of the Karachi bombings and victims of former Tunisian President Ben Ali’s regime.
According to Pascale Robert Diard, Montbrial is not, however, known for working on cases involving rape or sexual assault.
Hunt for witnesses or ‘communications operation’?
Montbrial, contacted by France 24 on Friday, declined to comment. But a day earlier, he told Reuters that he was chosen, because the legal team representing Strauss-Kahn’s accuser, led by Kenneth Thompson and Douglas Wigdor, were “looking for an attorney in France who had a certain amount of visibility and independence in France, where this is a very complicated case”.
According to reports, several high-profile French lawyers had been short-listed by New York legal team of Strauss-Kahn’s accuser, with proficiency in English among the criteria.
Thompson and Wigdor, the accuser’s main lawyers, cannot directly intervene in the criminal trial of Dominique Strauss-Kahn – which officially pits Strauss-Kahn against the people of the state of New York – but they can collaborate with prosecutors.
In early June, Thompson appeared on French TV, calling for other women to come forward if they, too, had been attacked by Strauss-Kahn.
There are two possible motivations behind a publicised search for former victims of any possible sexual misconduct by Strauss-Kahn, Pascale Robert Diard explained.
“Either they really think they can find women to testify against [Strauss-Kahn], or it’s a big communications operation intended to show the other side that those leading the case against Strauss-Kahn are on the offensive,” she assessed.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s defence team has, in turn, explicitly asked the prosecution if they intend to talk about past claims of unwanted sexual advances by their client when the trial opens; the prosecution has not yet responded.
Strauss-Kahn remains under house arrest in New York City and has pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempted rape, sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. If he is convicted, he could serve up to 25 years in prison.
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Comments (6)
Mr. Straus-Kahn's acuser i
In the circumstances, I must conclude that the maid accuser and her lawyers have a weak case.
Law in NY
It seems to me that is hard law system in NY.Laws are loyal to NY oligarchy,obviously .It allows them to send agent provocateur.Prosecutor activity has no borders.It's amusing.
Why?
Burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove the allegations true "beyond a reasonable doubt." This is a very difficult task. Demonstrating that the defendant had a pattern of committing sexual crimes would help do that. The prosecution is not grasping at straws, but rather prosecuting the case in a professional manner. At this point, no one knows what sort of evidence the prosecution has produced and we can only conclude that DSK is innocent until or if that changes. Read Federal Rules of Evidence 413 if you're interested in understanding the reasoning. Note: NY state law is not necessarily exactly the same as Federal Law, but the reasoning similar.
Kahn Strauss
This case is very hard to depict, let alone, come to some type of judgement on this man , especially , with the alleged crime of rape it becomes a he said she said type allegation. All the facts need to be presented without manipulation from the prosecution of course. Of course , the burden of proof is on the defense and not the prosecution . In the United States we are as citizens, under or constitution, are innocent before proven guilty , and the burden to proof is on the prosecution . That is totally not true. The burden is on the defense , the defense has to prove their case and show their side is not guilty. Shoot this will be tough . as long as the state plays fair and not test-a-lie about this man; and the legal system is not manipulated for the purpose of making a man fall out of ill will , the justice system will prevail.
Strauss-Kahn case
I'm not a lawyer or have anything to do with the law profession but from the position of an outsider the way the prosecution is trying to get help from lawyers in France to do some digging for dirt seems to me that the prosecution has a weak case and is looking for anything to hopefully strengthen their case.
I'm not interested in the result and don't know whether he is guilty or not, but left to me if he is guilty then he should be castrated - that way he couldn't re-offend! Drastic, yes, but it would send the message out to the men who carry out these kind of offences that it might be a good idea to keep their manhood safely tucked up in the pants!!!!
Dirty Old Men
It's about time that dirty old men (and dirty young men) learn that they cannot force themselves on women. Men in positions of power who use their power to do their dirty deeds should face a harse penalty. It does not matter if they are French or U.S citizens.
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