THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dominique Strauss-Kahn's second wife has admitted her former husband had an eye for the ladies but that it was "unthinkable and impossible" he would have raped a chambermaid.
The 62-year old International Monetary Fund chief and French presidential hopeful has been remanded in custody on Rikers Island after being denied a $1 million bail and faces sexual assault charges.
As graphic details of his alleged attack on the 32-year old Sofitel hotel maid emerged, Brigitte Guillemette, whom he married in 1984, leapt to her ex-husband's defence.
"The facts related by the American police are not compatible with the man I know and with whom I lived for more than ten years," she said.
Camille, the pair's daughter – one of Mr Strauss-Khan four children – is a PhD student at Columbia University and met her father for lunch in a New York restaurant "minutes after his alleged assault".
Mrs Guillemette said that she did not deny her husband was a charmer. "But that doesn't mean to say he could have done what he is accused of doing. I don't think I've ever seen him lock a door. He's someone who is gentle.
Violence is not part of his temperament. He has many faults, but not that one." Referring to the lunch he had with Camille, she said: "Can you imagine that a father could do what they accuse him of and then go for lunch with his daughter a few minutes later?
"It makes no sense. It's unthinkable and impossible," she added. Continue reading and comment » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, May 17, 2011
