Post date: Aug 23, 2011 3:27:58 PM
Nafissatou Diallo's lawyers say Diallo was not allowed a fair hearing and that charges were dropped due to conflicts of interest
Nafissatou Diallo's lawyers condemned the US District Attorney's decision to drop the charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday (August 23), claiming that their client had not been treated fairly and the justice had been obstructed.
Earlier in the day, Diallo's lawyers also filed a complaint against an ally of the former IMF head for allegedly trying to stop a witness giving testimony.
"Yesterday, they summoned Ms Diallo again treating her as a defendant rather than a victim, to their offices. On a certain time, on a certain date, no flexibility. And when she got there with Mr Thompson, the meeting lasted all of about 30 seconds to a minute. She asked them questions and none of those questions were answered. She was shown the door, and we are here today," said Nafissatou Diallo's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor.
The latest twist in the Strauss-Kahn affair comes as U.S. criminal charges are set to be dropped against the charismatic
politician and economist who was once seen as the French Socialists' best hope of winning the 2012 presidential election.
But spared of an appearance in court, Wigdor says the case was biased from the start.
"We're hopeful that the judge will look at our motion to disqualify, realise the inherent conflicts of interest and the implications that the District Attorney's office has had on all victims and the rights of victims," he said.
"The woman who works in the District Attorney's office is Karen Friedman Agnifilo. And the lawyer who works for Mr Brafman is Marc Agnifilo. He appeared I believe, if you look on the internet, you'll see pictures of Mr Agnifilo with Mr Strauss-Kahn, I believe at Mr Strauss-Kahn's arraignment, on the indictment," he added.
On Monday, Manhattan prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case brought by Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, who says
the former finance minister forced her to perform oral sex on him in his luxury hotel suite in May.
Seeking to establish a pattern by Strauss-Kahn of negative behaviour with women, the New York attorney for Diallo, Kenneth
Thompson, said in July he was reaching out to potential witnesses in France who may have had similar encounters.
"It was known by those close to Mr Strauss-Kahn. In regards to politics, that doesn't concern me, but in regards to Mr Strauss-Kahn's personal behaviour, he had there more than an Achilles' heel which was susceptible to bringing his political career to an abrupt halt. And it was crucial to prevent, in the American judicial system - I must insist that we are not in the French judicial system - to prevent the American lawyers to let women come to them, women that for years suffered or suffered attempts similar to what happened to Ms Diallo, Ms Banon and others," said Nafissatou Diallo's lawyer in France, Thibault de Montbrial.