France Aflutter as DSK's 'Aggravated Pimping' Trial Opens

France isn't usually too concerned about the intimate details of its leaders' lives, but for Dominque Strauss-Kahn, the public is making an exception, the Financial Times reports. Ever since he was accused of sexually assaulting a maid in New York in 2011—charges were eventually dropped—the former head of the International Monetary Fund has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons; this week, a trial begins in which he and 12 other people are charged with "aggravated pimping as part of a group." They were allegedly involved in orgies with prostitutes booked by officials and business leaders.

Strauss-Kahn is accused of helping to obtain the prostitutes, the BBC reports; while he acknowledges he's a "libertine" who slept with some of the women, he says he didn't know they were prostitutes. The "Carlton Affair"—named after the hotel that was the alleged site of the parties—is the last in a string of cases against DSK, who also saw a gang-rape case against him dropped. AFP, which is liveblogging the trial, reports that lawyers have today pushed for the case to be thrown out; they say a secret investigation preceded the official one, part of a conspiracy theory that holds that Strauss-Kahn has been the subject of a political witch hunt.