Dominique Strauss-Kahn acquitted in ‘pimping’ case

Mr Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF until the end of 2011, was at a French court on Friday to hear the verdict after being accused of instigating the organisation of orgies with prostitutes.

Though the use of prostitutes is not a crime in France, Mr Strauss-Kahn faced a charge of “aggravated pimping”. If he had been found guilty, he faced a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to €1.5m.

Mr Strauss-Kahn and his lawyers argued that he has an appetite for rougher-than-average sex but was not aware the women he was involved with at parties and hotels in Paris, Lille and Washington – mostly while in the IMF post – were prostitutes.

He also denied he was in any way an instigator in the procurement of their services.

During hearings in February a state prosecutor called for Mr Strauss-Kahn’s acquittal – citing a lack of proof “pure and simple”. However, in France judicial magistrates are allowed to order a trial even if state prosecutors disagree, under independence of the judiciary rules.

Mtr Strauss-Kahn was among more than a dozen other defendants, including hotel managers, a lawyer and a police chief, who were accused of participating in or organising the encounters between 2008 and 2011.

The judgement in Lille on Friday is the latest chapter in a saga that crushed the political aspirations of one of the world’s most powerful financial policy-makers.

Mr Strauss-Kahn left his post at the IMF in 2011 after sex assault accusations by a New York hotel maid. The 66-year-old settled financially with Sofitel maid Nafissatou Diallo after New York prosecutors abandoned criminal charges in 2011.

However, images of Mr Strauss-Kahn handcuffed, being walked through New York streets (pictured, above), were seen around the world days before he was, by his own admission, going to announce a bid for the French presidency in the 2012 election.