Extracted from La Jornada
The New York indicted in criminal sexual act and attempted rape
The apprehension of crisis unleashed Strauss-Kahn at the IMF and France
John Lipsky, the new director general of the institution in the air, meetings on EU crisis
New York, May 15. The director general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was indicted today on sex crimes in New York and thereby caused a crisis not only in institution, but in the international financial system and the national policy of France.
Within hours one of the most influential figures in the world happened to enjoy your stay in a suite of 3 thousand dollars a night at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan to spend the night in a cell of the delegation of police in eastern Harlem, reserved for sex crimes unit.
The IMF announced Friday after a meeting of its board members, the first deputy general director, John Lipsky, assumes the post of general director in office. He said that the institution continues to operate fully. Shortly hours before the first statement of the Fund after arrest, external relations director, Caroline Atkinson, said the institution would not comment on the case and stated that "the IMF remains fully functioning and operational."
This morning (2:15) Strauss-Kahn was formally charged with "criminal sexual act, attempted rape and false imprisonment in connection with a sexual assault against a 32 year old maid in a luxury suite of a hotel Midtown Manhattan, "said police commissioner and spokesman, Paul Browne.
was expected that Strauss-Kahn was presented to a judge for the initiation of judicial proceedings tonight, but, according to The Wall Street Journal, has been delayed because police have to apply for judicial authorization to examine the body of the head of the IMF and detect any scratches or DNA from the accuser.
His defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client denies the charges and pleads "not guilty."
Apparently, according to a senior IMF official quoted by the Journal, Strauss-Kahn has diplomatic immunity only when performing official duties. He said he was in New York for personal reasons.
According to reports from police in New York broadcast to local media, it all started yesterday, approximately 13 hours, when a maid entered to Strauss-Kahn room, thinking that was vacant, to the toilet. Suddenly the director out of the bathroom naked and chased down a hallway. Then he climbed into his bed and dragged her after struggling down the hall and tried to rape her in the bathroom. Eventually the woman managed to escape and immediately informed the hotel management what happened. Detention
Arriving police Room 2806, found that Strauss-Kahn had escaped and left his cell phone. Found out she was at the international airport John F. Kennedy, where detectives from the Port Authority of New York entered the Air France Flight 23, at 16:40, minutes before closing its doors to take off for Paris. They found the suspect in a first class seat, he was arrested and handed over to city police. From there he was transferred to a delegation for questioning. In the early hours of today was charged.
The news went around the world. First crisis resulted in the IMF headquarters in Washington, where the top spokesmen refused comment. There was an emergency meeting today to fill the void at the top. The new director, John Lipsky, who previously was an official of the Department of U.S. Treasury and banker JP Morgan, had recently announced he would leave his post this summer. Now, with the arrest of Strauss-Kahn and Lipsky's intentions, there is concern about the immediate future leadership of the institution, which maintains the stability of the global financial system to multiple regional crises, especially in Europe.
Strauss-Kahn, former French finance minister and lawyer, had been praised for his handling of the fund over three and a half years in charge, just during the period in which U.S. financial crisis erupted, which imposed enormous pressures on international financial system and the management of recent crises in Europe
The scandal has caused not only an institutional problem for the IMF, but arrives just in time that Strauss-Kahn was involved in delicate negotiations and urgent debt crises in Portugal, Greece and Ireland, among others, which threaten to destabilize the European Union.
In fact, Strauss-Kahn had a meeting scheduled for this Sunday with the German president Angela Merkel on these topics. He also had appointments Monday and Tuesday to attend a meeting of finance ministers from the European Union to address the issue of debt crisis in Portugal, Greece and Ireland.
His arrest also shook the French political world. It was hoped that Strauss-Kahn is postulated as Socialist Party candidate for president this summer to confront the conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in the elections scheduled for 2012. Surveys have positioned him as the favorite.
Strauss-Kahn, Sarkozy's rival, had indicated, but not announced its intention to be "the next president of France." Considered one of the most influential figures in the international arena, and had met with scandals in France had earned him the nickname The great deceiver. In 2008, his reputation suffered a setback when it was revealed a sexual relationship with a subordinate at the IMF, a Hungarian economist. After an investigation and a settlement for the woman, the IMF supported, although criticized for his handling staff in the matter. Else publicly apologized to his employees and his wife, Anne Sinclair, who today again supported her husband and rejected the possibility that he committed the crimes alleged against him.
Now, perhaps for the first time, the IMF is facing a crisis over monetary system, but within its system.
0 comments:
Post a Comment