Hospital report on IMF 'rape' under fire
Source: Agencies |
August 18, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LAWYERS for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn have fought back after a media report that a medical examination listed "assault" and "rape" as the causes of injuries to the hotel housekeeper who accuses him of sexual assault.
The exam, conducted at a hospital shortly after maid Nafissatou Diallo's encounter with Strauss-Kahn at a Manhattan hotel in May, found part of her genitals were inflamed and her shoulder injured, according to the French newspaper L'Express. The newspaper published an account of her hospital visit online on Tuesday, accompanying an interview with her lawyer.
Diallo is said to have been in tears as she told a doctor she was pushed to the floor and forced to perform oral sex by a guest at the Sofitel hotel, where she worked, according to the newspaper. Tests later found a ligament in her shoulder had been damaged, her lawyer said.
The medical report reads: "Cause of injuries: Assault. Rape," according to L'Express.
Strauss-Kahn, a former French presidential candidate, denies the allegations. His lawyers have claimed anything that happened between the two was consensual. They said on Tuesday it is "misleading and deceitful" to portray the account of Diallo's hospital examination as supporting the charges against him.
Attorneys Benjamin Brafman and William Taylor said in a statement: "The hospital report is based almost exclusively on the word of the complaining witness, who has been proven time and again not to be credible," and it doesn't establish a forceful encounter.
They said the doctor's findings are "common conditions consistent with many possible causes other than a sexual assault."
Diallo's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, said it is "utter nonsense" to suggest Strauss-Kahn's encounter with his client was consensual.
"The medical records are pretty powerful," he said. "The truth will come out at trial, and we look forward to that trial," he said.
Strauss-Kahn, a married man aged 62, was charged with attempted rape and other crimes after Diallo, 32, told authorities he had attacked her on May 14 when she arrived to clean his suite, thinking it was empty.
But the criminal case hit a roadblock last month after prosecutors said the maid lied to them about her background and her actions immediately after the events she described.
Diallo, in television and magazine interviews last month, claimed she is telling the truth about the attack.
Diallo also lied to prosecutors about having been gang-raped in her native Guinea, in west Africa. She now says she was raped but not in the manner she described on an asylum application.
Prosecutors say they are still investigating and have not decided whether to press ahead with the case.
Diallo is also pressing her claims by suing Strauss-Kahn, seeking unspecified damages.
The exam, conducted at a hospital shortly after maid Nafissatou Diallo's encounter with Strauss-Kahn at a Manhattan hotel in May, found part of her genitals were inflamed and her shoulder injured, according to the French newspaper L'Express. The newspaper published an account of her hospital visit online on Tuesday, accompanying an interview with her lawyer.
Diallo is said to have been in tears as she told a doctor she was pushed to the floor and forced to perform oral sex by a guest at the Sofitel hotel, where she worked, according to the newspaper. Tests later found a ligament in her shoulder had been damaged, her lawyer said.
The medical report reads: "Cause of injuries: Assault. Rape," according to L'Express.
Strauss-Kahn, a former French presidential candidate, denies the allegations. His lawyers have claimed anything that happened between the two was consensual. They said on Tuesday it is "misleading and deceitful" to portray the account of Diallo's hospital examination as supporting the charges against him.
Attorneys Benjamin Brafman and William Taylor said in a statement: "The hospital report is based almost exclusively on the word of the complaining witness, who has been proven time and again not to be credible," and it doesn't establish a forceful encounter.
They said the doctor's findings are "common conditions consistent with many possible causes other than a sexual assault."
Diallo's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, said it is "utter nonsense" to suggest Strauss-Kahn's encounter with his client was consensual.
"The medical records are pretty powerful," he said. "The truth will come out at trial, and we look forward to that trial," he said.
Strauss-Kahn, a married man aged 62, was charged with attempted rape and other crimes after Diallo, 32, told authorities he had attacked her on May 14 when she arrived to clean his suite, thinking it was empty.
But the criminal case hit a roadblock last month after prosecutors said the maid lied to them about her background and her actions immediately after the events she described.
Diallo, in television and magazine interviews last month, claimed she is telling the truth about the attack.
Diallo also lied to prosecutors about having been gang-raped in her native Guinea, in west Africa. She now says she was raped but not in the manner she described on an asylum application.
Prosecutors say they are still investigating and have not decided whether to press ahead with the case.
Diallo is also pressing her claims by suing Strauss-Kahn, seeking unspecified damages.
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