Dominic Strauss-Kahn released

[aliceliddell]

There is no case to answer because Ms Diallo is an 'unreliable witness'. No medical or forensic evidence is relevant. When raped women are 'witnesses' in the legal system, their credibility is the topic of contention, not the evidence. The issue of consent is largely ignored. Criminal law requires 'presumption of innocence' and 'beyond reasonable doubt'. Is it this combination that results in an inadequate legal response to sexual violence or other factors? Can this be changed?

Also let's remember that if you want to set a French male politician up, then rape charges are actually a really stupid way to go about it.

Raping women (especially if they are black servants) just isn't that big a deal in patriarchy (as this incident shows very well).

There isn't an awful lot one can do to bring down a rich white powerful male but as anybody knows an accusation of rape is a pretty feeble attempt.

People in France have a lower opinion of champagne socialist DSK for driving a Porsche and wearing fancy suits - much more serious issues than his sexual predation.

It is just fine for him to be 'The Great Seducer' who cheats on his wife and sexually harasses women he has power over however.

Pretty poor show when a man's choice of car becomes more important than his respect and decency towards other human beings and their bodily autonomy.

Question your use of 'other human beings'. Not sure they see the equivalence tbh.

Serves the "victim" right for lieing. I hope she has to pay legal fees, gets charged and has to pay him compensation

Thanks for sharing, edd.

at aliceliddell

Edd... that's not how you spell lying. In fact, it's not how you spell Ed. Well, I mean it is, cos it's how you spell it. But it's not how the rest of us spell it.

slhilly... that's not how you spell silly :P

Good job I'm not trying to, isn't it?

Things we now know about Edd:

• Edd holds vindictive misogynist views
• Edd doesn't spell "lying" correctly. Or Edd.
• Edd thinks Edd is funny

vindictive misogynistic views? No... far from it

hi aliceliddell. Yes I did look up that name/link, but tbh I didn't really understand what you meant. I never heard of him before, and I have my doubts about the JA case out of my own suspicions of the US, the whole wikileaks revelations, the fact there is so much more still to be released etc. I didnt know if you meant that guy was right or wrong or JA was set-up or is guilty, or what, sorry.

"Question your use of 'other human beings'. Not sure they see the equivalence tbh."

True aliceliddell.

The sex class having a right to bodily autonomy is just too much of a contradiction isn't it...

I'm interested in this snippet from the following link;

"Diallo's lawyers have also filed a complaint against a Strauss-Kahn ally in France for allegedly trying to silence a witness with money."

Oh goody, we can add a fourth thing we know about Edd:

• Edd lacks self-awareness, thinking that saying "Serves the "victim" right for lieing. I hope she has to pay legal fees, gets charged and has to pay him compensation" is neither vindictive nor mysogynistic

Because "victims" telling lies is perfectly ok slhilly. Your head is in the clouds darling

edd, what proof do you have that the complainant in this case lied about what happened to her? The evidence was not put before a court, so remains untried, untested. If it goes to a civil court, it might be.

(I won't speculate on where your head might be. :) )

If there's contraditions in her story then we have a problem. Lies are unacceptable. Strauss-Kahn's image will be tainted for a very long time to come

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2029163/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-maid-Nafissatou-Diallo-testify-France.html

"Paris-based barrister Thibault de Montbrial said he had today filed the complaint in Pontoise, another Paris suburb, saying Strauss-Kahn's legal team had 'put pressure' on the witness, including offering her money to remain silent.

This would amount to perjury, and could result in a prison sentence for those involved in the alleged cover-up of evidence, with Ms Diallo appearing in Paris as a prosecution witness."

This thing just stinks to high heaven. I really really hope that he isn't allowed to get away with this and that the women he has abused, club together and get some sort of justice.

Oh please Edd - DSK lied about whether he had a sexual encounter with her in the first place. Are you coming over all holier than thou about his lies being unacceptable too?

Funny how none of DSK supporters ever want to comment on this...

I don't support him. I hate rapists as much as the next person. DSK probably lied because he's a famous figure and didn't want his image tainted in the first place. Not saying his actions are acceptable, but his image is more important than that of some liar (yes, both told lies, hers are worse)

Ah so lying because you are famous and don't want people to know that you are a sexual predator is somehow better than lying because you need asylum from a country where you are at risk, or being confused, and possibly lying, about what happened to you after being sexually assaulted because you feared the consequences of speaking out?

Righto Edd.

Ms Diallo has said that where she is from she would be killed for speaking out against a man of the power of DSK. She has said that the fear of what would be done to her affected her actions. Sounds fair enough to me.

His cronies (allegedly) interfering with the course of justice by trying to pay off a potential witness doesn't sound quite so fair however.

fewcloudy - sorry, I wasn't clear about Assange. Same story as DSK - women accusers were 'smeared' as being CIA plants used to get rid of enemies of US state. Their stories were dismissed, like Diallo's. I believe the women in all these cases, and I am well aware that the logic of that position means that I believe DSK and JA to be rapists.

But she did speak out. No problem there. he probably tried to buy her silence so as to not bother with all the stress and media attention. The lying woman however refused and lost anyway. justice is served tbh

So, you are saying blackmail and paying hush money is morally acceptable, or even should be encouraged.

Why do you keep referring to Diallo as the "lying woman" but not Strauss Kahn as "the lying man?"

When questioned about the incident, he first said he was having dinner with his daughter at the time it supposedly happened. When forensic evidence was found showing he took part in a sex act with Ms Diallo, he then said, "any sex that took place was consensual." His first statement was quite clearly a lie. But, you choose not to refer to him as a liar.

I am basing it on the level of the lie. False accusations of rape are far worse than his lies

Excellent, we can add a fifth, sixth and seventh thing we know about Edd:

• Edd uses words like "darling" to belittle people. So misogynistic in ideology and in practice and no qualms about being misogynistic on a feminist board.
• Edd doesn't understand what Ms Diallo has been shown to lie about. Edd thinks it's been shown that she was not raped.
• Edd has thus either not read the court papers, or has read the court papers and not understood them. What with the papers saying quite categorically that the prosecutors did not know whether the sexual activity was consensual or not, rather that saying the sexual activity was definitely consensual.