Strauss-Kahn faces lawsuit, French probe

NEW YORK: Dominique Strauss-Kahn , the former International Monetary Fund chief who won dismissal of sexual-assault charges in New York, still faces a lawsuit by his accuser and remains the subject of a French rape investigation . New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus yesterday granted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr’s request to dismiss the indictment against Strauss-Kahn .

Obus also rejected the accuser’s bid for a special prosecutor in the case, a decision that an appeals court refused to reverse . Vance’s office sought to dismiss the case after concluding that the housekeeper who accused Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her and forcing her to have oral sex had lied about events surrounding the alleged May 14 attack at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, as well as about key details of her life.

“Unless you have been falsely accused of a very serious crime that you did not commit , it is impossible for you to understand or grasp the full measure of relief that Dominique Strauss-Kahn feels,” Benjamin Brafman, one of his lawyers, told reporters . “This was not a forcible encounter. You can engage in inappropriate behaviour perhaps, but that is much different than a crime and this case was treated as a crime when it was not.” Brafman said in an email that he expects Strauss-Kahn’s travel documents to be returned on Wednesday. Investigators in France are probing allegations that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape French writer Tristane Banon eight years ago, a claim he has denied.