Mr Putin said that he finds it hard to believe that the sex charges against the Frenchman are true and that he may have fallen victim to a shadowy plot to discredit him.
"It is hard for me to evaluate the real political underlying reasons and I do not even want to get into that subject, but I cannot believe that everything is as it seems and how it was initially presented," he said. "It does not sit right in my head."
Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested at JFK airport in New York on May 14 for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid.
Mr Putin's public support for Mr Strauss-Kahn comes days after a French politician alleged that the former IMF chief had said before his arrest that he thought Mr Putin was actively plotting his downfall.
The politician, Claude Bartolone, said: "He said the Russians and notably Putin had allied themselves with France to try to have him fired from the IMF to stop him running for (French) president." » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Sunday, May 29, 2011
My comment:
I have said all along that something doesn't seem right about this alleged crime. I am inclined to agree with Putin. DSK was the most successful politician in France. He was going to run for the office of president. It is quite possible that he was set up. – © Mark
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