Strauss-Kahn freed

ONCE it was the Valley of Elah, where David, to use that wonderful Old Testament verb, smote Goliath but for the last six weeks the battle between a giant and a minnow has played out in a New York courtroom.

It looked to have come to an end yesterday when former International Monetary Fund chief and French presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released without bail following a hearing in his sexual assault case.

Neither the accuser or the accused seem without a blemish but it was always likely that someone as powerful as Strauss-Khan, even though he lied and had some sort of sex with the 32-year-old maid, would enjoy whatever luck was going.

It raises again the age-old question of how powerful men abuse that power to satisfy their lust and how the women they target can be protected.

It also shows privacy laws — or traditions — in the preposterous light they should be seen. Strauss-Khan has, rightly or wrongly, earned a less than impressive reputation as a predatory male. Had these rumours been confirmed could he have reached the position he was in or aspired to the French presidency? Once again privacy laws are seen for what they are: A device to protect the undeserved reputation of powerful people.