New York mayor defends ‘perp walk’ of IMF chief

Journalists work outside the jail at Rikers Island where International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being held after being denied bail subsequent to being arrested and charged on Sunday with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid, in New York May 17, 2011. Strauss-Kahn faced growing pressure to quit as head of the IMF, both from inside the Fund and from some European officials, even as France urged no rush to judgment. Strauss-Kahn is likely to remain there at least until his next appearance in court on Friday, where his lawyers may again seek bail.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his city’s police for parading a handcuffed Dominique Strauss-Kahn before the media after some French politicians voiced outrage over the IMF chief’s “perp walk”.



The International Monetary Fund managing director, considered a front-runner for the French presidency, was arrested over the weekend and charged with attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York.

His lawyers have denied the charges and said Strauss-Kahn would plead not guilty.

Police transporting him from a jail cell to the courthouse walked him briefly in front of a battery of cameras on Sunday night with his hands cuffed behind the back.

“I think it is humiliating, but if you don’t want to do the perp walk, don’t do the crime,” Bloomberg told reporters in the state capital, Albany, on Tuesday.

“I don’t have a lot of sympathy for that. Our judicial system works where the public can see the alleged perpetrators,” Bloomberg said.

Former French Culture Minister Jack Lang described the treatment of Strauss-Kahn as a “lynching” that had “provoked horror and aroused disgust.” Others considered it degrading and offensive.

Bloomberg said perp walks would be unfair in cases where the defendant was found not guilty.

“The real sad thing is if somebody is accused, does the perp walk, and turns out not to have been guilty. And then society really should look in the mirror and say we should be more careful the next time,” the mayor said.