Strauss-Kahn to face action from French novelist over alleged rape bid

Tristane Banon’s lawyer David Koubbi said he will file the papers in Paris today.

Ms Banon has described an encounter several years ago in which Strauss-Kahn allegedly assaulted her.

Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York in May on charges he tried to rape a hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn, who denied wrongdoing, was released without bail last week after questions emerged about the maid’s credibility.

Mr Koubbi had previously said they would not start legal action until the American trial was finished and said yesterday they had decided to move forward now instead of waiting.

The move has introduced fresh uncertainty into a fierce French national debate about whether Strauss-Kahn can return to the country’s presidential race.

Ms Banon came forward after Strauss-Kahn’s May 14 arrest in New York to accuse him of wrenching open her bra and trying to unbutton her jeans in 2002. Mr Koubbi said she had been dissuaded at the time from filing charges by her mother, a regional councillor in Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist party.