DSK to Slap French Accuser With Slander Complaint

His lawyers call Tristane Banon's account 'imaginary'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2011 1:45 PM CDT
Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Slap French Accuser Tristane Banon With Slander Complaint
In this undated portrait provided by Plon Publishing house in Paris on Monday July 4, 2011, French writer Tristane Banon.   (AP Photo/Charles Dolfi Michels, Plon Publishing)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is swinging back at Tristane Banon, the Frenchwoman who plans to file a lawsuit accusing him of attempted rape: His legal team today announced that he plans to file his own criminal complaint of slander against her. Strauss-Kahn "has always said that the incident described by Ms. Banon since 2007 is imaginary," said his lawyers. "He notes that this complaint comes quite conveniently right at the moment when there is no longer the slightest doubt about the false nature of the accusations against him in the United States."

Banon's lawyer said the decision to move forward with her complaint wasn't connected to the weakening of the US case. "It is all the same to me what happens in the hours and days to come in the United States," he said. If Banon files her complaint, a prosecutor can conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to support charges against Strauss-Kahn over the alleged encounter, which Banon says happened nine years ago. The statute of limitations on the charge of "sexual assault" is three years, while attempted rape charges can be filed for as many as 10 years after the alleged crime. Click for more. (More Tristane Banon stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X