Paris: Police have questioned Dominique
Strauss-Kahn's ex-wife, Brigitte Guillemette, as part of an investigation into a French writer's claims he tried to rape her in 2003, a judicial source said.
Guillemette is the godmother of journalist Tristane
Banon, 32, who has lodged a formal complaint against the
former International Monetary Fund chief awaiting his next
court appearance in New York on a sex assault case there.
Detectives from the violent crimes squad interviewed his ex-wife on Friday, a source said, confirming a report on the Le Point news magazine website.
Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, has said recently in several press interviews that she had contacted Strauss-Kahn's
ex-wife shortly after the alleged sexual assault on her
daughter.
Banon accuses Strauss-Kahn of attacking her during an
interview in February 2003 in a central Paris flat. She was
herself questioned by police on July 11.
Police also interviewed Friday an online journalist who
had worked with Banon, the source said.
Prosecutors will later decide whether to charge the
62-year-old Socialist politician, who was at one time expected
to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential
election.
Strauss-Kahn faces criminal charges in New York for allegedly trying to rape a 32-year-old hotel maid in May,
which he denies.
He has also dismissed Banon's claims and his lawyers said
they have filed a lawsuit for defamation against the young
writer, who in a 2007 television interview accused
Strauss-Kahn of trying to force himself on her "like a rutting
chimpanzee."
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, July 19, 2011, 10:11