Wednesday, August 24, 2011

DSK: Post Mortem

The French Socialists are celebrating.  As of Tuesday, August 23, Dominique Strauss Kahn, DSK, their champion, is a free man.  A New York City judge has dismissed the sex case against him.

There won't be a trial, not because DSK did nothing in room 2806, but because his alleged victim, Ms. Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid, did too much. Actually she lied too much.  Since the accuser lost her credibility, the prosecutor felt he "could not prove the case before a jury beyond a reasonable doubts." 

The forensic evidence only indicates a hurried sexual encounter between Diallo and DSK without visible violence.  It is a text book case of "she says, he says". She claims a sexual assault.  He insists on a consensual sexual encounter.

DSK's statement looks totally ludicrous to me.  This aspect seems to be lost on the French Socialists.  Is this the latest NYC fairy tale: a tryst between a rich white man and a poor African maid in a discounted hotel suite?  Do you believe it?

For sure, something sleazy took place in the Sofitel suite. If the sexual encounter didn't involve violence, the truth may be found half way between the two opposing claims.  It could have happened like this: the male client requests a quick sexual service and for some reason the service provider, the maid doesn't receive the expected reward, she is upset and feels cheated.  We know what happened next.

So desperate to defeat Sarkozy, the incumbent president, the Socialist party places all its hopes in reviving DSK's political fortune.  I sincerely hope that female voters won't forget that a woman got the short end of the stick, literally speaking, in this story.  

This case may prove to be another setback for legitimate victims of sexual assault. The alleged victim’s past gets thoroughly scrutinized; she is put on trial before the trial. Unless she is totally virgin, she won’t get justice. On the other hand the alleged sexual predator walks out cleared without going through cross-examination.




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