DSK knew nothing of prostitutes, court told
Limited himself to four orgies any given year
Lille, France • Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a court Tuesday women had a habit of “offering themselves” to him and he took part in “only” four orgies a year.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund was being questioned for the first time at his trial on charges of aggravated pimping.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 64, who denies the charges, told the court in Lille, northern France, he had no idea he was having sex with prostitutes and described one such encounter as “a festive evening.”
He claimed he had been wrongly depicted as being engaged in “frenetic sexual activity,” whereas he took part in only four orgies a year.
Referring to group sessions in Lille, Paris and Washington, Judge Bernard Lemaire told Mr. Strauss-Kahn, “Everything appears to have taken place at your request and for you.”
DSK, as he is known, replied he had “committed no crime,” adding, “I don’t see myself as organizing these soirees in any way. I didn’t have time. At no moment did I think these evenings were organized for me.
“I had other things to do. I had political ambitions.”
The former French Socialists’ presidential hopeful maintained he “would never have come” to what he saw as libertine sessions had he known prostitutes were involved.
“I have nothing against prostitutes, but that’s not what I like. I like to party,” said Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who faces a 10-year prison term and a $2.1-million fine. Relations with them would have been “far too risky.”
He complained investigating magistrates suggested he did little else than attend soirees dedicated to sex.
“When you read the indictment, you get the impression there was a frenetic [sexual] activity. We are talking about four meetings per year over a three-year period,” he said. “These were recreational activities — a pressure valve in my hectic life.”
He contended his businessman friend, Fabrice Paszkowski, one of 13 other defendants, had sought to hide the fact girls were paid “to please him.”
Mr. Paszkowski suggested women flocked to Mr. Strauss-Kahn because of his charisma as a public figure. “People say the girls were the gift, but the real gift was DSK,” he said.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn said he had suspected nothing as “women had a habit of offering themselves to me.”
That account was denied by two former prostitutes.
Mounia said she had consented to “brutal” sex with the former IMF chief only because she needed the money.
Added Jade, “I was just a thing who had to accomplish something. I was not there as a person ... Normally in libertine sessions there is to-ing and fro-ing. In this case, it was a one-way ticket.”
However, both said they never discussed payment.
“We didn’ t t al k about money at all,” said Mounia.
People say the girls were the gift, but the real gift was DSK