DSK Surveillance Video with English and French Subtitles

On Thursday, December 8, 2011, French TV station BFMTV broadcast a video, compiled from Hotel Sofitel security camera footage, relevant to the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK), who was arrested on May 14, 2011 and charged with sexual assault and attempted rape, charges that he denied "with the greatest possible firmness." The BFMTV video, entitled "Affaire DSK : la vidéo du Sofitel de New York du 14 mai dernier en exclusivité sur BFMTV" [ http://www.bfmtv.com/affaire-dsk-la-video-du-sofitel-de-new-york-actu20189.html ], has been posted or linked to by media and wire services around the world.

This video is of the great importance because a) the charges against DSK derailed a career of immense importance to the entire world and b) the video strongly bolsters DSK's case that he was innocent -- and supports the feeling of many people, that DSK was framed for political reasons.

Derailed DSK's career at a key time:

The Hotel Sofitel charges cost Strauss-Kahn his post as head of the International Monetary Fund, where he had reversed neoliberal policies (i.e., policies of rewarding the rich and punishing the poor and poor nations, for being poor), moving the IMF sharply to the Left -- for example, calling on nations to promote development by raising workers' wages and opposing the demand to impose draconian economic measures on Greece. Moreover, DSK had been the favorite to run for President of France on 2012 on the Socialist Party ticket, an election the polls predicted he would win by a landslide. Following the Sofitel accusations and subsequent French media attacks, leaders of the French Socialist Party deserted DSK in the most cowardly fashion. After DSK was forced to resign, he was replaced by Christine Lagarde, a neoliberal disciple of arch-reactionary Zbigniew Brzezinski.

The BFMTV video supports widespread feeling that DSK was framed for political reasons:

This is because the footage, properly understood, contradicts the narrative, as put forward by Ms. Diallo, the supposed victim, and her lawyer, by the Sofitel Hotel, by the New York police and DA Cyrus Vance, Jr's office, and by most media. I write "properly understood" because to understand the video footage one needs BFMTV's commentary, which is for the most part accurate and incisive. Thus it is shocking that, while wire services (such as Associated Press) and TV networks (such as the top US network, CBS) have shown and distributed the video, *none* have translated the accompanying narrative from BFMTV! Instead, they have substituted text trivializing the importance of the video.

That is why Emperor's Clothes has translated the BFMTV narrative and presented it as subtitles accompanying the BFMTV video, which is posted here for Fair Use Only. The video is (C) BFMTV, and it is, as they say, an exclusive. Unfortunately, our subtitles, which make the video comprehensible to English-language audiences, are an Emperor's Clothes exclusive.

-- Jared Israel
Editor, Emperor's Clothes
www.tenc.net

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• BFMTV
• DSK
• Dominique
• Strauss
• Kahn
• Sofitel
• Nafissatou
• Diallo
• video
• CCTV