Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves his hotel to attend the trial in the so-called Carlton Affair, in Lille, February 11, 2015, where 14 people including Strauss-Kahn stand accused of sex offences including the alleged procuring of prostitutes. Strauss-Kahn is charged with "procuring with aggravating circumstances". The trial is expected to run for at least three weeks, court officials said. Reuters

Is former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Stauss-Kahn headed for the slammer or a second court victory?

Observers of his trial in Lille, France, are waiting for an answer to that question – with the second choice seemingly a strong possibility – after five of the six women who accused him of pimping have dropped their accusations.

In backing out of their complaint, the lawyers of four prostitutes said on Monday they are no longer pursuing claims against Strauss-Kahn because of the difficulty of proving pimping charges due to lack of evidence.

However, despite the withdrawal, the case will go one against the 65-year-old former IMF head and 13 others. The sex trade workers who participated in orgies with Strauss-Kahn remain as civil parties in the criminal case, according to lawyer Gerald Laporte.

The 13 include luxury hotel managers, a lawyer, former police commissioner and a brothel owner named “Dodo the Pimp,” reports BBC.

“The prostitutes have renounced the requests of damages and interests against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, reckoning that all the elements making up the crime of aggravated procuring have not been met,” Reuters quotes Laporte.

The ex-IMF boss insisted during the trial that he was not aware that the women who took part in Roman-type orgies with him were sex trade workers. However, one of them belied his claim and even cited that he forcibly sodomised her as proof that he treated them as prostitutes.

Friends of Strauss-Kahn has backed his alibi and said only they knew of the women’s real job.

The former managing director of IMF could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to 1.5 million euro if he is convicted.

A previous rape complaint filed by a New York hotel employee, Nafissatou Diallo, in 2011 against Strauss-Kahn, which led to his fall from power and destroyed his ambition to become president of France, was dismissed after he settled with the complainant.

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