Banon and Strauss-Kahn to go face-to-face over assault claims

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to have a face-to-face confrontation with the young French writer who has accused him of attempted rape. French prosecutors say they have not yet set a date for the meeting. 

Reuters/Charles Platiau/Francois Guillot

Tristane Banon alleges the 62-year-old Socialist politician lured her to an empty Paris flat in 2003 on the pretext of offering her an interview for a book she was writing and assaulted her. He has admitted to kissing the 32-year-old author, but denies any use of violence.

Both parties have been interviewed by police over the alleged incident, and Banon told a television interviewer this week that she was keen to confront her alleged abuser in front of police investigators to test each other's claims.

"The police unit asked me whether I was prepared to accept a confrontation. Obviously, I said: 'Yes'. I want him in front of me so he can look into my eyes and say to my face that I imagined it," she said.

Banon also claims she has been contacted by other victims of DSK who are too afraid to come forward because of the intense media scrutiny she has suffered.

Investigators have aleady interviewed a number of people in connection with her claim. These include her mother, who was a former lover of DSK, his second wife Brigitte Guillemette and their daughter Camille and former Socialist Party head François Hollande.

Banon's complaint is for attempted rape rather than for sexual assault or harassment, and if the prosecutor decides to downgrade the charge Strauss-Kahn would be protected by the statute of limitations on the lesser crimes.

Regardless of the result of the criminal inquiry, Banon has vowed to lodge a civil suit against him.

Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn has lodged a lawsuit for slander against Banon over her claim.

Already a notorious womaniser, Strauss-Kahn's career as managing director of the International Monetary Fund came crashing to an end in May when a New York hotel chambermaid accused him of sexual assault and he was arrested.