Liberté, égalité... infidélité?

France woke up on Sunday morning to widespread shock and disbelief: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, had been arrested in New York City during the night, on allegations that he had raped a chamber maid in Manhattan.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, is the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and was seen, until last week, as the likeliest contender for the Parti Socialiste (French Socialist Party) to face the unpopular incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s Presidential elections.

He was arrested on board a Paris-bound Air France flight 10 minutes before take-off and was taken into custody at the Harlem Special Victims Unit, where he remained until Monday morning. He was subsequently transferred to Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was denied a US$1 million bail on fears that he might flee to France. He was then transferred to “The Tomb”, otherwise known as Rikers Island, New York’s main jail complex.

The alleged victim, a 32-year old woman from the Bronx, identified him during a police lineup. She claims that he came out of his bathroom naked, ran after her, attempted to forcibly have sex with her, and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Benjamin Brafman, Strauss-Kahn’s attorney and one of the most famous lawyers in the United States (he has previously defended Michael Jackson and Jay-Z and is dubbed “the man to have on speed-dial when you’re in really big trouble”) stated that his client “denied all charges against him”, and that he would “clear his good name”. After the court hearing and the denial of bail, Mr. Brafman told reporters: “The battle has just begun”.

Following the announcement of his arrest, reactions from political leaders in France and in Europe quickly emerged. Both members of the Parti Socialiste and Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP reacted with sympathy, expressing “sadness, shock and bewilderment”. Others expressed their belief that the affair might in fact be a “setup” relating to Strauss-Kahn political influence and power. Contrasting with most responses, Bernard Debré, another member of UMP, called Strauss-Kahn a “sex offender”, and said that his arrest had “humiliated France”. Marine Le Pen, President of the Front National, France’s main far-right party said that ‘[she] wasn’t surprised”.

It has been long known that DSK (as we call him in France) is a ladies’ man. In 2008, he was accused of using his influence at the IMF to coerce one of his employees (who was married at the time) into engaging in an affair with him. He was cleared of charges of harassment and abuse of power and later apologised for what he called “a serious error of judgment”. His private life had never had any consequence on his career until now and many French politicians before him had had affairs, which never seemed to bother the public opinion.

As head of the IMF, DSK has had a pivotal role in bailing out countries such as Ireland and Portugal. The institution, which had a marginal role before the crisis of 2008, emerged as one of the most important and influential actors of global economy under his leadership, and he was widely praised for giving more power to emerging countries and changing the IMF’s image to that of an institution that helps countries in difficulty instead of starving them. At the time of his arrest, he was due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in order to convince her to support another bailout for Greece.

Many questions remain unanswered regarding his arrest and the crimes he has allegedly committed. According to initial statements from the NYPD, the alleged assault occurred at 1pm, in DSK’s room at the Sofitel New York. Following this, reports came in that he had already checked out of the hotel and was having lunch with his daughter at the time of the alleged assault, after which the NYPD stated that the assault had in fact occurred at noon. Police are still trying to determine whether DSK left the hotel in a hurry, and have also collected DNA from the alleged crime scene.

In France, photos of DSK wearing handcuffs during his transfer to Manhattan Criminal Court shocked people and since the denial of bail, criticism has emerged in French media regarding the handling of the case by American justice. Some have denounced the “perp walk” (intentional parading of a suspect) he was subjected to as “humiliating” and “unfair”, as he is still presumed innocent.

Strauss-Kahn was expected to resign from his post as Managing Director of the IMF in order to stand in his party’s primary elections (scheduled in late June), during which members of the Party choose the Socialist Presidential Candidate. Many believed he was the only candidate who could modernise France, and in spite of his previous affairs, he was expected to win by a landslide and then defeat Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2012.

This scandal, however, has probably ended his political career earlier than expected.