He’s been convicted by public opinion, but Strauss-Khan deserves a fair trial

AS ONE of my Facebook friends aptly put it, now that Queen Elizabeth and President Barack Obama have left our shores we’re back to the French and the Germans dropping in to tell us how to run the economy.

One of the former who won’t be calling to offer his gracious “advice” on the national finances, however, is Dominique Strauss-Kahn (known in France simply as DSK). The chambermaids at the Merrion Hotel can breathe a sigh of relief. Or can they?

The now ex-head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and prospective Socialist Party favourite for the presidency of France has, of course, been arrested and detained for the alleged attempted rape of a maid in his $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel in New York.