France's Hollande grilled in rape case
PARIS - Socialist presidential hopeful Francois Hollande will be questioned in an inquiry into charges of attempted rape brought by a French writer against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, legal sources said on Tuesday.
The lawyer for writer Tristane Banon said she had told the Socialist politician about the alleged incident in 2003 when he was first secretary of the party, raising questions as to how much he knew and whether he should have raised the alarm.
The move is the latest twist in the case against Strauss-Kahn, once the Socialist Party's leading candidate for a 2012 presidential election who was arrested by New York police in mid-May on charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid.
The case has damaged the Socialist Party and threatens to poison the run-up to the presidential election next April.
"There's nothing new. Mr Hollande isn't being targeted in particular," the source said, confirming a report in Tuesday's Le Figaro newspaper that the Socialist would be interviewed by investigators.
The source did not say when police would question Hollande, who is currently leading opinion polls for the election.
French police are questioning a number of people with links to the case in a preliminary investigation to establish whether a fully-fledged inquiry is justified.
On Monday, Strauss-Kahn's daughter from his second marriage, Camille Strauss-Kahn, was interviewed. Her mother, Brigitte Guillemette, was questioned on Friday rather than on Monday, the legal sources said.
Banon filed a legal complaint at the start of July, alleging that Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in 2003 when she went to interview him in a sparsely furnished flat in Paris.
Reuters
(China Daily 07/20/2011 page12)
