IMF Head Charged With Attempted Rape

Oh dearie me.

I'd make some joke about IMF policies in Asia during the '90s here, but that would just be tasteless.

Incidentally, I should note that this doesn't just hurt the International Monetary Fund - Strauss-Kahn was the big-name candidate for France's political left-wing, which should have interesting effects on the upcoming elections there.

What's precedent ever done for us?

The left-wing is in dire straits.

Yeah I guess it will.

With rape people don't bother with that whole 'presumption of Innocent' thing that is holding up the courts in other criminal prosecutions.

hashtagsarestupid

Yeah, I note people on the news calling this a "humiliation" for Strauss.

Its not a "humiliation" to be arrested. Or at least it shouldn't be. Conviction is a humiliation.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

On the other hand, his fast escape could be pretty damning.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

As my family said, this has quite an aftertaste of Julian Assange: It's a little too convenient that such charges be thrown at him now.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

Maybe, but it's not like the NYPD takes secret orders from Nicolas Sarkozy.

Also, this story made me laugh for some reason. >.<

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.

^^What do you mean by that? That you/your family think Kahn's being set up or something by Assange or something similar? I'm a little confused by this.

edited 16th May '11 6:14:43 AM by Fafnesbane

No, just that there might be a similar motivation behind the two. The women might be falsely accusing an influential person to get them discredited.

I admit I thought it was rather similar too. Although the story here doesn't seem to be as... confused as the Assange case was.

edited 16th May '11 6:18:01 AM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...

Ahh right, that story. Character assassination?

Still, seems all a bit too sudden. One moment, the maid's cleaning, the next moment the guy's flying at her with his dick at the ready, jeopardizing his entire career and life based on one maid. Granted, the fleeing's not going to work wonders for his defense, but still...

EDIT: Unless this sort of thing's quite common - then don't mind me.

edited 16th May '11 6:22:00 AM by Fafnesbane

?

I think if this were a setup the accuser would have been a middle-class white professional.

As to "innocent until proven guilty," I can't deprive Strauss-Kahn of life, liberty, or property*

, and so have no obligation to give him due process of law. False accusations are rare enough that knowing no other facts than "Alice claims Bob raped her," statistics suggest you're better off believing Alice (if you are not in a position to deprive Bob of life, liberty, or property).

The child is father to the man —Oedipus

Assange as still in oz isn't he?

I'm not saying he is a rapist, but he doesn't seem like a not-a-rapist either.

He just gives a 'woludn't put it pass him' vibe.

edited 16th May '11 6:36:25 AM by joeyjojo

hashtagsarestupid

"Oh, 'e looks like a rapist. Book 'im, boys!"

It's a sad thing that we just don't know anything for sure, except that this will be an episode on Law and Order.

If it hasn't been already.

According to a french newspaper, a video of the maid leaving, shocked, the room, is in possession of NYPD (no official confirmation, though). 4 journalists are in the courtroom, waiting for DSK and tweeting:

http://twitter.com/#!/daftkurt http://twitter.com/#!/balasseNY http://twitter.com/#!/dufourdufour http://twitter.com/#!/jonswaine

Update, we know the judge for the case: Melissa Jackson (http://www.nyc.gov/html/acj/html/appoint/criminal_appt.shtml#jackson)

New update: DSK is in, now.

edited 16th May '11 7:58:35 AM by RufusShinra

As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.

Note to exclusive Anglophones: all but Swaine are tweeting in French.

The child is father to the man —Oedipus

So, according to the NY Times, the assault would have been at 12, DSK left his room at 12:30 and the 911 call was made at 1:30. One hour needed to call the cops? An assault could have shocked the maid, of course, but it seems a little weird they took so long. We don't have enough info at the moment, but the set-up theory is still in the air...

UPDATE: According to Le Monde.fr, the maid told her bosses about the thing at 12:30, so it's still one hour for them to call 911. Maybe they were quite afraid to throw the **** on the fan.

edited 16th May '11 8:47:35 AM by RufusShinra

As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.

I don't think there's any good to be found in building hypotheses off of trivial details like that. Of such things are conspiracy theories born. Either way, this is a terribly traumatic event for at least one of the two parties involved, so let's just wait until all the hard evidence is in before we jump to any conclusions.

edited 16th May '11 8:57:02 AM by Karkadinn

Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.

Yep, you're right. I should do better than that, and I'll stick to the updates.

So, speaking of which: DSK is now briefed by the judge, who seems to want the tweets to be stopped (according to #dufourdufour, who says he's holding on as of now).

As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.

In situations like these the media should be gagged, because it currently is a witchunt.
It does not even matter if the guy is actually innocent, people won't read that in the newspaper. They will remember the whole "that guy is a rapist!" because the newspaper said so one week...
Ugh.. :(

A guy called dvorak is tired. Tired of humanity not wanting to change to improve itself. Quite the sad tale.

Yep, the only way his career is saved is if they find a dramatic way to prove his innocence. But, by dramatic, it must be the kind of thing you only see in movies and that totally change the whole situation (Ace Attorney style). That, or the guy himself repelling a russian invasion single-handedly while helping a bunch of kittens.

... do you know the phone number of the russian embassy?

UPDATE: according to Le Monde.fr, the first forensic reports are favoring the maid's version and is working on another sex affair that could have be linked to DSK. He denies his charges and is presumed innocent at this moment. The prosecution wishes him to be kept in detention for now.

edited 16th May '11 9:16:16 AM by RufusShinra

As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.

Geez, I hope to never be raped by a powerful man because on top of the rape, I'll have to deal with the femme fatale/honeypot/conspiracy slinging from an international audience.

We really don't know what happened. On one hand, he's known to have some affairs, but on the other, he's got a loooooot of very powerful enemies, and was probably going to be a candidate to the presidency, back in France, which he would have won without any doubt.

From the courtroom: the prosecution doesn't wish for him to pull a Polansky by leaving the States. DSK's defense team asks for a bail.

Update: a journalist just sued DSK in France for assault charges back a few years ago. Oh, he so much needs M. Wright on his defense team, now. The defense attorney suggests a 1,000,000 $ bail.

edited 16th May '11 9:27:02 AM by RufusShinra

As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.

Agreed about the presumption of innocence regarding DSK which is why I wrote it generalized language. But what a hellish situation to be in.