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DSK maid goes public with her story

Nafissatou Diallo claims that former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn forced her to perform oral sex and ripped off her tights when she came to clean his hotel room.

The front cover of Newsweek featuring Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who claimed that she was assuaulted by Dominique Strauss Kahn
The front cover of Newsweek featuring Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who claimed that she was assuaulted by Dominique Strauss Kahn
Image: Newsweek via Newsweek.com

THE CHAMBERMAID WHO claimed that Dominique Strauss Kahn sexually assaulted her in a New York hotel has shed her anonymity to tell her story.

Nafissatou Diallo, a 32-year-old woman originally from Guinea, has given a television interview to ABC’s Good Morning America and a print interview to Newsweek magazine. In both of them, she said she has allowed her name to be revealed so that she can tell her side of what happened in Room 2820 in the Sofitel. Diallo also said she wanted “justice”.

Speaking to Newsweek on the former International Monetary Fund chief Strauss Kahn, Diallo said:

Because of him they call me a prostitute. I want him to go to jail.

Diallo also revealed details of her own background, saying her husband and baby died in Guinea and she left the west African country with her surviving daughter after she had been raped by two soldiers.

The maid told ABC that she is “telling the truth” about the alleged oral rape in the hotel suite, saying Strauss Kahn forced her to her knees to perform the sex act, and that he also tore her tights off. Newsweek’s extensive article quotes Diallo as saying that she didn’t know how powerful and well-known Strauss Kahn was until she saw his arrest reported on the television. She said:

I watched Channel 7 and they say this is (the) guy – I don’t know – and he is going to be the next president of France. And I think they are going to kill me.

Read the full interview in Newsweek here>

See maid Nafissatou Diallo being interviewed on ABC>

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Comments (8 Comments)

  • If she’s not lying I hope she gets justice.however I agree that going down the publicity route is not going to do her any favours.

    Reply
  • Everything about that cover is so ridiculously biased – having DSK looking haggard and B&W, while the maid is heavily made-up and appears on the verge of tears. If she truly is innocent that going that the publicity-heavy route is completely the wrong decision, especially since the case is pending litigation. Let’s not forget either that the lies that have thrown the case into doubt were announced by her prosecution, not the defence

    Reply
    • De 25/07/11 #

      You should take a look at your own prejudices – neither does she appear heavily made up as you suggest – maybe a little mascara and eyeshadow – nor does she appear close to tears. I’d suggest that the cover is part of the deal that will allow her mount a defence in the first place, an immigrant from Guinea v a wealthy French economist. Go figure.

      Reply
  • SK is a dog of note he has too much history !

    Reply
  • There’s a lot more to the case than the simplistic “immigrant from Guinea v a wealthy French economist” view but my point is that this move will not do her credibility any favours. She could’ve already a mounted a proper defence, however, the prosecution found discrepancies in her accounts of the night in question and that’s why it has stalled. If you can’t see any persuasive tactics employed in that Newsweek cover then I don’t know what to say.

    Reply
  • THIS STORY READS LIKE ALOT OF “WHO SHOT JOHN”. READ THE NEW YORK NEWS PAPERS ON LINE 4 THE REAL STORY HERE.THE AUTHORITIES NOW NO LONGER BELIEVE HER ASYLUM/REFUGEE CLAIM. SHE HAS A NUMBER OF LARGE BANK ACCOUNTS THE MONIES IN WHICH CANNOT BE EXPLAINED. SHE ALSO HAS BEEN PHONING CRIMINALS IN A NEW YORK PRISON WHO HAVE BEEN “MENTORING” HER – THIS STORY WILL END SOON – UNLIKE THE ASYLUM/REFUGEE CLAIMS IN IRELAND

    Reply
    • Hi John. Just to let you know, your caps lock must be ‘on’ on your keyboard or phone – if possible, could you please post comments with upper and lower case as you might in an email? It just makes it easier for everyone else to read (and it looks a little bit like you’re shouting at us!)
      Thanks very much for your understanding,
      Best, Susan

      Reply

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