Pimping trial starts for ex-IMF chief

PARIS — Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, went on trial Monday on accusations that he participated in a prostitution ring that extended from northern France to Brussels, Washington and New York.

In a case that has riveted France, Strauss-Kahn, 65, who was once seen as a presidential contender, stands accused in Lille, France, with 13 other defendants, including Dominique Alderweireld, a sex club owner known as Dodo la Saumure.

Strauss-Kahn, an economist, is charged with “aggravated procurement in a group,” or pimping, and using his subordinates to obtain prostitutes for lavish sex parties.

In addition to shining a spotlight on a clandestine world of sex parties that prosecutors say were attended by lawyers, judges, police officials, journalists and musicians, the case is also spurring debate about sexual morality in France and the extent to which the private lives of public figures should remain private.

In France, having sex with prostitutes is not illegal, but soliciting and pimping are against the law.

Strauss-Kahn has acknowledged being present at sex parties, but he has denied the charges he faces in Lille and has said he was not aware that some of the women present were prostitutes. His defenders say the prosecution is seeking to criminalize sexual ardor, and that Strauss-Kahn is the victim of a puritanical, politically motivated witch hunt. Moreover, they argue that sex parties reflect a long tradition of libertinage and that consensual sex between multiple partners behind closed doors is a matter of private taste and morals.

Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund in 2011 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a housekeeper at a hotel in New York. The charges were later dropped. He has since been seeking to rehabilitate himself, working as a consultant, lecturing and advising foreign countries as well as large companies in Russia, Africa and Latin America, among other places.

Prosecutors say exclusive orgies were organized in major world cities by businessmen who were seeking favor with Strauss-Kahn, and that their money was used to finance prostitutes, including for Strauss-Kahn, who sometimes sought out sex with several partners in one evening.

Strauss-Kahn’s name first appeared in the Lille inquiry by chance, in May 2011. French investigators had wiretapped the phone of Alderweireld.

If convicted, Strauss-Kahn could face up to 10 years in prison and fines of more than $1.7 million.

Didier Specq, a veteran court reporter who has written a book about the case, said that while the trial was a blow to Strauss-Kahn, the former fund chief could emerge emboldened if found innocent.

He said Strauss-Kahn was still popular among some French people, who, he said, considered the sexual choices of their politicians to be a private matter.

“Morally, he will take a hit,” Specq said. “But after a few weeks of this trial, people will realize that the evidence against him is thin. It will raise questions as to whether the case was politically motivated. The French are not obsessed by the sexual transgressions of their politicians.”

But others thought the trial would have a more damaging effect.

Michel Taubmann, a biographer of Strauss-Kahn, told BFMTV that the trial would be disastrous for Strauss-Kahn’s image and that it marked a new phase in his long descent, which began when he was accused of sexually assaulting the housekeeper in New York.

Taubmann was quoted by the broadcaster as saying that Strauss-Kahn, who was adored at his political peak, had lost his status and connections and was now a man “alone,” but that he was ready to fight to prove his innocence.