The classic tale of a fall from grace usually sees a figure with great power and honor do one act that is taken poorly by the masses and thus washes away any positive image.
That is exactly what has just happened to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn was recently arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in New York.
Strauss-Kahn is standing by his claims that his sexual encounter with the 32-year-old woman in a Manhattan hotel was in no way an assault. It is even being reported that his legal team is saying that the encounter was completely consensual.
He is accused of attempting to rape a maid in the Sofitel hotel on May 14th. He was held by police while he was on an Air France flight just before the plane was about to leave for Paris.
Strauss-Kahn is currently in a cell all by himself at Rikers Island in New York, the same prison where hip-hop artist and Grammy Award Winner Lil Wayne spent his prison term in 2010. Strauss-Kahn has been denied bail for the time being.
The grand jury overseeing the case is currently looking over the evidence presented to see if a case can be built against the IMF leader.
At the same time in Europe, financial ministers throughout the continent are asking the head of the International Monetary Fund to step down.
Maria Fekter, the finance minister of Austria, said that it is clear that Strauss-Kahn’s current situation is hurting the IMF and he needs to realize that he needs to remove himself from the institution for the sake of the institution.
Many of the finance ministers are also sympathetic towards Strauss-Kahn and his situation. It is not completely evident that what is said to have happened in the hotel room did in fact happen. However, Strauss-Kahn is being painted as a monster by the media. And at the same time, he is still a colleague and friend of numerous officials in Europe and thus in terms of asking him to step down, the finance ministers have mixed feelings on the matter right now.
Now the wait is on to see if the jury assigned to the case feels that there is enough evidence against Strauss-Kahn to go ahead with the charges and go into a trial. The decision is expected to be announced by Friday.
Until then, pressure is high on Strauss-Kahn to step down.
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