Diplomatic immunity?

Lawyers for former head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn have asked a judge to dismiss a civil case filed by a hotel maid who accuses him of sexual assault.

The criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn have already been dropped over concerns about the reliability of the claimant. Nafissatou Diallo, a 32-year-old Guinean immigrant, alleges he forced her to perform oral sex in a New York hotel on May 14. Strauss-Kahn insists the sex was consensual. She is still pursuing a civil suit for undisclosed monetary damages.

The motion to dismiss the case claimed the woman's "false charges" significantly impaired the International Monetary Fund's "ability to serve its critical function ... at a time of worldwide financial crisis and instability."

But the central argument asserted that as IMF managing director, Strauss-Kahn was immune from such a suit under international law. His attorney, William Taylor, therefore asked the judge to throw the case out in its entirety.

Strauss-Kahn resigned as IMF chief after his arrest in May and returned home to Paris late last month when prosecutors decided to abandon their pursuit of sexual assault and rape charges against him.

While her account of the assault remained steadfast, Diallo told a series of lies about her past and about what happened immediately after the incident, prosecutors said. Despite the dismissal of criminal charges, the civil suit remains viable because civil actions require a lesser burden of proof.

Not a diplomat

But Diallo's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, immediately rejected Strauss-Kahn's claims of diplomatic immunity.

"This baseless motion is another desperate attempt to avoid having to answer for the deplorable acts he committed against Ms. Diallo," Thompson wrote in a statement. "Strauss-Kahn's claim of diplomatic immunity will clearly fail because: (1) he is not a diplomat; (2) according to his own story he was in New York on 'personal' business; (3) he, not the IMF, paid for his room at the Sofitel; and (4) he was obviously acting in his personal capacity when he violently attacked Ms. Diallo."

Strauss-Kahn spoke about the incident at the Sofitel Hotel in an interview broadcast on French television, calling the encounter a "moral failing," but he said it "did not involve violence, constraint or aggression."

Strauss-Kahn, 62, had been a favorite to run as the next president of France before he was arrested. In addition to the civil suit, he still faces a separate investigation in France from a writer, who says Strauss-Kahn forced himself on her during a 2003 interview. He has denied any wrongdoing and lodged a countersuit for defamation.

Author: Joanna Impey (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Nancy Isenson