Will Strauss-Kahn Get Off?

If the charges against the former IMF chief are thrown out, what, if any, lessons will be learned?

The sexual assault charges laid against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn appear to be headed to the garbage bin, as the prosecution has determined there are serious credibility issues with DSK's accuser. The Globe and Mail's editorialists side with the New York legal system, saying they did “the right thing” in publicizing concerns over the accuser's version of events. “There is no perfect justice,” they write. “A prosecutor who acts from conviction and solid evidence, and then reveals the flaws in that evidence, has admitted to the perplexing condition of being human.” Credit is due to (wonderfully named) district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. for having the gumption to realize that his extremely high-profile case against DSK might not hold up in court, regardless of what it might mean for his career.

Heather Mallick, as she's wont to do, frets in the Toronto Star that the unravelling of the case over the chambermaid's credibility means “women have lost the right to be imperfect.” That's a bit of a stretch, as the case didn't fall apart over the chambermaid's spotty past (lying during her immigration processing, a previous instance of fabricated rape allegations) so much as it did over her inconsistency in describing what happened in the hotel room, or that she allegedly told friends that she could stand to make some serious coin over the row. One instance of a sexual assault charge being thrown out – even if it was laid against one of the most powerful and well connected men in world – does not herald the disintegration of decades of legislation and precedent aimed at protecting rape victims.

What's almost as shocking as the twists in the case is France's willingness to embrace DSK despite his very public and far from flattering sexual escapades, writes The Guardian's Melissa Bounoua. Much of it can be linked to the left's desire to reclaim the presidency for the first time since 1995, as DSK had been just about the only candidate who stood a chance of doing so before the allegations arose. “But many feel it is way too soon to talk about a comeback; to appear eager for his return could reflect negatively on the party – voters would ask themselves why it needed him so badly,” writes Bounoua. Even if Strauss-Kahn isn't guilty of rape, the 60 per cent of Socialist party members who'd welcome his return ought to question whether a man who can't contain his libido is truly who they'd want representing their country to the rest of the world.