The trial opened a week ago but it’s the first time that Strauss-Kahn, who saw his stellar career plummet to earth after a separate sex scandal which resulted in his arrest in New York in 2011, is giving his side of the story.
Strauss-Kahn is charged with aggravated pimping on the grounds that he organized or encouraged group sex parties in both Europe and the United States.
He is charged with aiding and assisting the prostitution of seven women, allegations he denies.
The trial is being closely watched both in France, where Strauss-Kahn is commonly known as DSK, and around the world.
There were dramatic scenes as Strauss-Kahn’s car arrived at court Tuesday, when topless protesters with anti-DSK slogans painted on their bodies clambered onto his car. The activists, from the feminist group Femen, were then bundled away by police.
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He was the leading prospective Socialist candidate in the French presidential elections of 2012, an election his party won. Strauss-Kahn could well have taken the presidency, which instead was claimed by Francois Hollande.
The scandal erupted when Strauss-Kahn was arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport on charges he had sexually assaulted a maid, Nafissatou Diallo, at a hotel where he had stayed. He resigned in disgrace from the IMF and months of legal battles followed.
In the end he was cleared of the charge and allowed to return to France — only to find that his name had come up in connection with the alleged Lille prostitution ring.
CNN’s Jim Bittermann reported from Paris and Sandrine Amiel from Lille, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London.
