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IMF Head Is On Suicide Watch, Accuser Lives In Apt For HIV Victims
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 18, 2011
Modified May 18, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published May 18, 2011
Modified May 18, 2011
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While Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French millionaire head of the IMF, has been put on suicide watch in a wing of Rikers Island, the ever classy New York Post took the story in about as ugly a direction as a story about a powerful man allegedly forcing himself on a hotel maid could go. "Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have more to worry about than a possible prison sentence," the tabloid's front page story screamed today. "The IMF chief's alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS." The paper's non-relevant charges were immediately derided as "outrageous" by the 32-year-old maid's lawyer on The Today Show this morning.
Though the paper doesn't explicitly say why the medical status of the unidentified accuser is important for the case, nor does it even uncover if she even is HIV-positive, it breathlessly reports on it nonetheless:
The hotel maid, a West African immigrant, has occupied the fourth-floor High Bridge pad with her 15-year-old daughter since January—and before that, lived in another Bronx apartment set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United strictly for adults with the virus and their families.
The Post has not been able to ascertain whether the maid, 32, has HIV/AIDS because of medical confidentiality laws.
But the agency rents apartments only for adults with the disease. A Harlem United worker said at least one adult in the household has to be HIV-positive or have AIDS to qualify for one of their units. A healthy adult with a child with HIV or AIDS is not eligible.
Murdoch's minions then explain why this might be of any relevance whatsoever: "According to the federal Centers for Disease Control: 'It is possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through performing or receiving oral sex.'" For what it is worth, the maid's lawyer says she sublets her apartment.
Meanwhile Strauss-Kahn, who has not actually made an attempt on his own life, has been put on suicide watch after receiving a psych evaluation. And the French media, already upset over the accused's perp walk, are getting worked up about the prison conditions that the 62-year-old IMF leader is being subjected to: "There are numerous very heavy barred doors that make a noise each time they are opened or closed," lawyer Gerald Lefcourt told the paper Le Figaro. Further, he also said that "The food is terrible." Really? Has he tried the prison's famous bread?
Tagged
accusation
allegations
dominique strauss-kahn
imf
international monetary fund
oral sex
Rikers Island
sofitel
Garth Johnston
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