The presence of the silver-haired economist, the most high-profile of the 14
accused in the three-week trial, also drew crowds of journalists and curious
onlookers to the court.

Strauss-Kahn will have three days to fend
off accusations that he organised for prostitutes to attend sex
parties with him in Paris, Brussels and Washington in the case which could
land him in prison for up to 10 years.

He will come face-to-face with two of these women, now retired sex workers,
during questioning.

Topless protester jumps on car of ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn outside French court / Photo by @afp's Denis Charlet pic.twitter.com/G8Zakyi6Om

— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) February 10, 2015

The former
finance minister, known as DSK in France, is expected to argue he is
merely a libertine who engaged in orgies with consenting adults and did not
know the women lavishing their attention on him were prostitutes.

Until Tuesday, Strauss-Kahn had attended only the first day of the trial but
his name has only been mentioned in passing by the judge, as French court
rules forbid defendants from mentioning anyone not in the room.

Strauss-Khan said in court: "One gets the impression I was involved in
unbridled frenetic (sexual activities). We're talking of four meetings per
year over three years."

He added communication with Fabrice Paszkowski, a businessman, was
intermittent: "I had other things to do. I had political ambitions. And
a complicated couple."

Judge asks whether #DSK maintains that he was unaware that women he slept with were prostitutes. Yes is the answer.

— Henry Samuel (@H_E_Samuel) February 10, 2015

"I committed no crime, no offence," he added in a letter read out to
the court in the northern city of Lille. He also denied any "wild
activity" and said the sex parties he attended were few and far
between.

^{Dominique Strauss Kahn (C) arrives at the Court House by car, in Lille}

An ex-prostitute, Mounia, said on Monday she was specifically chosen for DSK
by one of the businessmen who threw parties for him.

"The sexual relation that you were to have was with Dominique
Strauss-Kahn?" asked Bernard Lemaire, the chief of the four judges
overseeing the three-week jury-less trial.

"Yes," said Mounia, adding that the businessman, David Roquet, "told
me he came to see if I would please this man".

Mounia and another prostitute, known as "Jade", are expected to
testify that Strauss-Kahn would have been "naive" to have not
realised they were professionals.

Strauss-Khan denies the charges.

Via: telegraph.co.uk

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