French writer to press on with Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegations

Tristane Banon’s lawyer says she is in ‘a fighting mood’ as US prosecutor drops charges based on Nafissatou Diallo’s claims The French writer and journalist who claims Dominique Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her eight years ago is more determined than ever to bring him to justice, her lawyer said on Tuesday. Tristane Banon claims the former IMF chief sexually assaulted her when she went to interview him for a book she was writing in 2003. Banon, 32, who was friends with Strauss-Kahn’s daughter Camille and is a goddaughter of his second wife, described his behaviour as “like a rutting chimpanzee”. Her lawyer David Koubbi, who travelled to New York to see prosecutor Cyrus Vance and meet Nafissatou Diallo, said he was dismayed by the New York prosecutor’s decision to drop the sexual assault charges against the politician. “I regret this outcome. I regret it for Nafissatou Diallo because I believed what she said,” he said. “I spoke to Tristane on Monday evening by telephone, then during the night, then this morning [Tuesday]. She is in a fighting mood. She isn’t ready to let this drop. But she feels sorry for what has happened to Nafissatou Diallo because she also believed her.” He added: “The credibility of my client is not, and has never been, called into question because of this.” Banon’s allegations are the subject of a preliminary inquiry that Koubbi said had “not yet been completed”. Strauss-Kahn’s Paris lawyers have dismissed her accusations as “fantasy”. “The DSK affair in France has only just begun,” Koubbi said, adding that the “self-congratulatory” statements from members of Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist party who defended their former presidential hope, showed a “crass indecency”. Dominique Strauss-Kahn IMF France Europe Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.