NEW YORK — A pair of judges put an end Tuesday to the sensational sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, setting him free after prosecutors argued the hotel housekeeper accusing the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexual assault couldn’t be trusted.
The decision to drop the charges in a case that has attracted global attention as a cauldron of sex, violence, power and politics had been widely expected. Prosecutors filed court papers Monday saying that they could not trust the word of the hotel housekeeper accusing the one-time French presidential potential contender of attempted rape.
“Our inability to believe the complainant beyond a reasonable doubt means, in good faith, that we could not ask a jury to do that,” assistant district attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said in formally recommending the case be dismissed.
Strauss-Kahn arrived at court in a six-car motorcade and was greeted by protesters wielding signs carrying such messages as “DSK treats women like property”.